Welcome To My Life
by wackystrings123
Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new girl, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, caring, sweet. Might get a little...later TxG, CxT, ZxS
1. New girl again

**A/N: I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, so I decided to write a story about it. But of course, it's different from the song. This is the first chapter of **_**"Welcome to my life" **_**The song is by simple plan, not me.**

**ENJOY!

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**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 1 – ****Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

The heavy rain pelted mercilessly against the broad, jean covered back, rolling on to the wet, slippery pavement, creating an annoying "pitter-patter" sound,

A few cars drove by the vulnerable teen, spraying him with mud. His eyes squinted, trying to stay focused through the heavy droplets. He pulled the jacket tighter around himself, in an attempt to shield himself. His sneakered feet slapped against the pavement, as he ran blindly through the rain. Finally making it to the shelter of his vacant front porch, he ripped the heavy material from his soaked body, and let it fall from his numb fingers. He glared blankly at the wooden door before him, before silently unlocking it and stepping into the quiet house, he was _supposed _to call home.

He noiselessly shut the heavy door behind him, and kicked off his soiled sneakers. Still in his socks, he made his way towards the stairs, cringing whenever his wet feet came into contact with the wooden floor, releasing a "squelch" sound. He breathed a sigh of relief, the moment his drenched sock hit the top step.

"TROY!!!" A deep masculine voice rang through the house. Troy froze from where he stood, soaked to the bone. His stomach muscles tightened, and every single strand of hair on his body stood erect. Nervously, he ran his moist tongue across his parched lips, and turned on the spot, his body trembling dangerously. He gripped the wooden stair railings in his fist so tight, that his knuckles popped in protest. "GET DOWN HERE!" the familiar voice bellowed, causing the house to shake violently. Troy felt his muscles lock, as he started his way down the stairs again, cringing whenever a step creaked.

His father stood at the bottom of the stairs, his arms folded across his chest. He bore an amused expression, laced with anger, and distaste. Troy planted his soaked feet firmly on the last step, his hands clenched into tight fists.

"Yes." He snarled coldly, looking anywhere but at the man before him.

"Why are you late?" His father asked, the smell of alcohol, and cigarettes flowing out of his mouth.

"I had a tutoring class." Troy lied.

"Is that why you missed practice today?"

The boy cringed, and ran his tongue over his dry lips. He nodded vigorously.

"That's not a good enough excuse, boy." His father hissed venomously. Troy shut his eyes, bracing himself for the blows he knew were yet to come.

An hour later, Troy dragged himself up to his room, and threw himself on his bed, clutching his stomach tightly. He shakily peeled his drenched shirt from his body, and inspected the new cuts and bruises forming on top of the old ones. He leaned back against his pillows and shut his eyes tightly. No tears fell, for he was all out. He simply closed his eyes, and imagined he was in a parallel universe, where fathers didn't beat their children. That trick used to work when he was younger, but now, it just drained every ounce of hope he had left in him.

* * *

Troy leaned against his locker, his emotionless blue eyes skimming the crowded hall. They landed on a skinny blonde, angrily stuffing her books in her locker, her short denim skirt rising higher as she bent over her book-bag. She looked new.

He lazily flicked his chestnut hair away from his face and made his way over to the blonde. He leaned against the locker next to hers and shoved his hands into his pockets. The blonde immediately looked up. A blush crept onto her pale face, as she took in the god standing beside her.

"Are you new here?" Troy questioned lazily, plastering his false "charm smile" across his face. The girl giggled, and batted her fake lashes at him, in an attempt to be seductive. She ran her tongue over her glossy crimson lips, and pulled her tight top lower, revealing a lot more cleavage to Troy's liking.

"Only if you want me to be" She spoke in a high sickly sweet voice.

"I don't give a fuck." Troy growled. Within a second, he had the girl caged against her locker, his teeth nipping harshly at her rough skin. His large hands traveled up her skirt.

"Yo, Hoops!"

Troy groaned, and pushed himself off the over-excited girl. "What, Chad?" he snapped turning to his best-friend, looking irritated. The African-American boy flashed him a toothy grin, before grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the girl.

"I don't want to get another detention." He mumbled. Troy hit him on the head, and turned to the blonde, who was still leaning against her locker, in the same state Troy had left her in.

"Fuck off." He snapped at Chad, and stalked over to the blonde, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, yet again.

"I can't do this mom." A nervous Gabriella Montez mumbled to her mom. She gazed out of the tinted window of her moms' car, her stomach twisting into tight, uncomfortable knots. She clutched her book-bag tightly.

"You'll be fine." Her mother replied, brushing the dark curls from her forehead. Gabriella smiled. Her mother leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her daughters' cold forehead. "Just be Gabriella." She whispered. Gabriella nodded, ignoring the ebony strands that fell from the loose ponytail. She pushed the door open and stepped out of the warm car.

"Thanks, mom." She murmured, slinging the strap of her book-bag over bony shoulder.

"Have a nice day." Her mom called as she watched her daughter shut the door and retreat towards the entrance of East High School.

Gabriella made her way through the doors of East High, trying her hardest to seem invisible. She tripped on the last step and stubbed her big toe painfully. A pained hiss passed through her clenched teeth before she could stop it. A few students close to her snickered and passed her wordlessly. She adjusted the strap of her bag properly and proceeded to climbing the "wretched" steps.

She walked towards the principal's office, this time careful not to trip.

TGTGTGTGTGTGTGTGTGTGTGTGTGTG

"Alright settle down, young thespians!" the loud droning voice filled the loud class. The noise ended abruptly, followed by the loud scraping of chairs against the tiled floor.

"Mr. Bolton! Ms. Adams! NO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION!!!" Ms. Darbus screeched, standing up. The red-haired girl in the cheerleaders outfit removed her red Botox filled lips from Troy's, and scowled angrily at Ms. Darbus. She pushed herself off Troy's lap, and glared at the old gray-haired woman, before making her way to her seat. Troy ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't mind the interruption; she was way too clingy for his liking anyway. Ms. Darbus waltzed back to the front of the class, her long drapes/shawls gliding on the floor behind her. She adjusted her over-sized glasses. "Now…"

"Um, excuse me." A tiny voice spoke from the doorway. Ms. Darbus let out an exasperated sigh and turned towards the doorway. Everyone's eyes turned too.

Troy felt as though every single drop of oxygen in his body had been sucked away, as his eye landed on the tiny girl at the doorway. He took in the way her dark waves fell over face, falling from the loose ponytail on her head, the way her dark mocha eyes flicked from one student to the other, nervousness written all over her golden face. A lazy smile crept onto his face; he took in her appearance, dark jeans, and a light blue-top, the sleeves stopping just below her elbow, and a pair of tennis shoes. He chuckled inwardly, hearing a few girls pointing out the flaws in her lazy outfit, from what they seemed to say, there seemed to be many. Her hands trembled violently when she reached out to hand the teacher a plain brown envelope. She kept her eyes on the tiled floor, uncomfortable by the stares, and glares being directed at her. Ms. Darbus hawk-like eyes skimmed over the sheets. A satisfied smile formed on her wrinkled face. She looked at the brunette warmly, and stuffed the papers back in the envelope. She then turned to the bore looking students, leaning lazily in their chairs. Troy was finding it difficult to look away from the timid brunette, chewing nervously on her plump, red lip.

"Class, we have a new student in our midst." Ms. Darbus exclaimed, waving her hands dramatically. She pointed to the small brunette. "Class, this is Gabriella, she moved here from… um, San Jose."**  
**

Troy looked at Gabriella, her face matched the color of an over ripe tomato.

"Now, Ms. Montez, you can take the seat in front of Mr. Bolton." She pointed at the vacant seat in front of Troy.

Gabriella mumbled something and dragged her feet towards Troy, in the fourth row. Someone stuck their foot in Gabriella's path so fast, that she didn't have any time to see in. She tripped, and fell to the floor, hitting her knee hard against the floor. The class erupted in taunting laughs, drowning Ms. Darbus scolds. Gabriella sat up quickly, trying to bite back the tears that threatened to fall. She reached for her back-pack and the many books that had managed to pour out from the open top. She could feel her cheeks burn up, as she quickly tried to gather her belongings. Just when she was about to reach for the last book, a hand snatched it before she could. She looked up. She felt her jaw drop to the ground, the boy before her was insanely beautiful. His golden skin glistened invitingly. His chestnut-blond hair fell sexily over his brown eyebrows. She took in the navy blue hoodie he wore, zipped all the way to the top, and the dark faded jeans covering his muscular legs. The ground beneath her disappeared in an instant, leaving her soaring in the clouds. The wind vanished from her lungs, as did all the moisture in her body. She felt as though her most vital organ was being ripped out of its cage beneath her ribs, by invisible hands that seemed to be protruding from the boys' indescribable eyes. They were blue, really blue, as deep, and blue as the Pacific. Gabriella felt as though she were drowning in its ultramarine depths. The eyes looked just as she had imagined heaven, which led her to the thought that perhaps she was in heaven. They were perfect. But also full of mystery.

And they were staring right at her.

She felt all the heat on Earth rise to her face, and she quickly looked down, her face a deep scarlet. She heard him chuckle quietly and pushed the book into her hands. She snatched it, and quickly stood up. Without saying a thing, she pushed past him and floated to her seat, leaving Troy in shock. He quickly shrugged it off and returned to his seat. All through the rest of homeroom, Troy's eyes were glued to the dark head in front of him; it was as though, nothing else in the World mattered, but the owner of the long, dark waves. His tight stomach felt airy, and his heart beat accelerated. He could feel his palms become sweaty, and he continuously wiped them against his jeans. He licked his dry lips over and over again, in an attempt to try to add moisture to the dry skin, but it almost immediately would evaporate, leaving the skin parched and raw. He clenched his fists tightly, this was definitely odd. He'd never reacted this way to any girl, ever, and this new feeling was really scaring him.

* * *

Gabriella gazed thoughtfully at the map of the school given to her by the school's secretary. She was currently trying to find the school Gym. She turned a corner and found herself in yet another hallway, covered in pictures of the _WILDCATS_ mascot, paws, and basketballs, with the letter "E" in the middle. She groaned. The bell had rung nearly two minutes ago, and she was nowhere near finding the cursed gym. She groaned in frustration, and back against the lockers. Her eyelids fluttered shut.

"You sound like you've had bad day." A quiet voice flooded her ears. Gabriella opened her eyes, and pushed off from the white lockers. A dark girl stood before her, her almost black eyes twinkling with evident humor. Her ebony fell just above her shoulders, cropped slightly, and held back by a thick red and white stripped headband. She wore a buttoned white shirt, with cuffed sleeves, and a knee-length pleated matching white skirt. She smiled warmly and held out a chocolate hand. "I'm Taylor Mckessie." Gabriella shook her hand, smiling back at the girl. She opened her mouth to speak, but Taylor cut her off. "And you're Gabriella Montez. I'm in your homeroom."

"Oh, I remember, um, president of the Scholastic Decathlon team, right?" She questioned. Taylor blushed, and nodded.

"You look kind of lost." She commented. Gabriella nodded.

"I'm looking for the gym."

"Cool, I have gym too." She grabbed Gabriella's arm and pulled her down the hall. "Don't worry, you're not late. It usually he girls, like ten minutes to change, so if you can change fast, you're safe." Taylor explained. She giggled, hearing Gabriella's relieved sigh. "So anyway, what kind of things are you into?"

Gabriella shrugged, and chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She stumbled slightly over her own feet. "From what you've just witnessed, I'm accident-prone." She smiled. Taylor laughed.

"I can safely say I'm not."

The two carried on asking random questions about each other, until they reached the double doors of the gym. Taylor pushed the doors with ease, and quickly ran towards the girls changing rooms, with Gabriella following close behind. They finally made it to the changing rooms, finding it already filled. Laughter, hushed giggles, and the sounds of clothes hitting surfaces ricocheted off the walls, as the two girls walked in. A few of the girls walking out snickered in Gabriella's direction, and rudely bumped into her on their way out.

"Ignore them." Taylor whispered to her.

15 minutes later, Gabriella sat between Taylor and a tiny auburn-haired girl with large, round glasses, on the bleachers, along with a dozen other students.

"Okay, I want five laps today, then I'll split you into two groups, and we'll have a little game." The coach barked roughly, pacing at the foot of the bleachers. Gabriella looked past the coach. A sudden burst of energy passed through her fragile body the moment her eyes locked with the familiar cold mysterious blue. Troy smirked at her, sending her a mind-blowing wink. The girl in front of Gabriella let out an excited high-pitched squeal. Coach Bolton glared at her. Gabriella rolled her eyes, realizing the girl had thought the wink was directed at her. She couldn't get over the fact that nearly every single girl at East High literally threw themselves at him, that was from what she'd learned from Taylor, who seemed to despise him a lot more than she did. She'd talked to him after her little incident during homeroom, but had walked away from him, realizing he was an arrogant jerk, who was just trying to get her into bed with him.

She sighed and fixed her attention back on Coach Bolton, ignoring the lust-filled stares the blue-eyed boy was sending in her direction. She clasped her hands together tightly. It didn't seem like avoiding him was going to be "a piece of cake".

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**A/N: Tell me what ya'll think. Review, pretty please with chocolate and cheese. **


	2. Troy Bolton

**A/N: Second chapter of **_**"Welcome to my life" **_**by Simple Plan. Enjoy! **

**ENJOY!**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 2 – ****Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

_FLASHBACK_

_Gabriella made her way out of Ms. Darbus class, a map of EHS in one hand and a few notebooks in the other. She had been taking notes on Ms. Darbus speech on Shakespearean Times, only to realize halfway that the old "prune" had been saying the same things over and over again. She leaned against a nearby locker as she tried to stuff the notebooks in her bag._

"_Hey…"_

_Gabriella looked up at the sound of the low voice. Her stomach did a series of somersaults as she realized she was staring at the blue-eyed boy she'd met earlier. She blushed and looked down; leaving strands her stray tresses to shield her scarlet face._

"_Are you doing anything during free period?" he continued. Gabriella looked at him with raised brows._

"_What kind of a question is that?" she snapped. Troy's eyes darkened. _Maybe he's being nice. _She thought. _

"_I'm sure I can schedule a janitor's closet for just the two of us…" he winked suggestively as Gabriella felt her mouth fall open. Her grip on her back-pack tightened as her eyes formed slits. _Or not! "_What do you say?"_

"_Asshole!" she snapped and turned away from him. He watched her stalk down the hallway, tripping slightly on her feet. A smirk played at his thin lips. _Playing "hard to get" are we, Montez?_ He smirked to himself as she turned round a corner._ Even sexier.

_END _

Gabriela gazed at the open text book in front of her, trying to make sense of the jumbled up words. She tapped the tip of her pen against her chin thoughtfully. _Okay, so 2x equals to… A shirtless Troy Bolton!_ Her eyes widened as the image flashed through her head. _Focus, Montez, _she mentally slapped herself. _Equals to…14!_

"Ugh!" she accidently growled out loud, earning a few stares and strange looks from people. She sent them apologetic looks and turned back to her work. The letters all seemed to form one name "Troy Bolton".

She exhaled sharply and buried her face in her hands. _Troy is so hot! Gosh, his eyes are so amazing!_

A loud thump from the shelf before her broke through her thoughts. She looked up. Troy had caged a tall blonde against the bookshelf, his hands all over her body; their lips were fused tightly together and the girl was moaning a little too loud. Troy opened his eyes and winked at Gabriella as his mouth traveled down to the blondes' bare neck. She giggled obnoxiously, and plunged her skeletal fingers into his silky strands.

"Last I checked, Bolton, this was a library, not a…" she trailed off, not wanting to continue; Troy smirked and pulled away from the girl, ignoring her complaints. He shooed her off, not caring about the hurt expression on her face. She glared at Gabriella, obviously blaming her for ruing her fun. Troy dropped down on the seat opposite Gabriella and rested his feet on the table, kicking Gabriella's books off the surface. She glared angrily at him, and quickly began gathering her things. Troy looked at her in amusement.

"Going somewhere?" he asked sarcastically lifting his feet off the table. Gabriella ignored him and continued stuffing her books in her book-bag. She hitched the strap up her shoulder and turned to walk away. Tory's smirk faltered when she took no notice of him, but it quickly vanished as his "ego-maniac" side took over once again. He grabbed her wrist roughly and felt her freeze at his touch. Ignoring the electric sparks shooting through his arm where his skin connected with hers, he drew her closer to him, locking his long fingers tightly around her thin wrist. She gasped when she felt his hot breath against her face. She noted the way his blue eyes softened as they trained over her face, pausing at her pink lips for a second longer than normal. He brought his cold blue eyes up and locked them with her chocolate ones; they held the gaze for a long time, neither wanting to look away. Gabriella opened her mouth to say something, when he roughly let go of her and stalked out of the library, intentionally bumping into her harshly, causing her to stumble back.

Readjusting herself, the brunette followed him out of the empty library. She made her way towards the front doors, oblivious to the light irritable drizzle outside. She marveled at the way the school looked when it was completely empty, her footsteps echoed loudly, and she could even hear her own breathing bouncing off the creamy white walls. She finally made it to her car, a little wet from the light drizzle. She sighed quietly as she pulled out of the school parking lot.

*VT*VT*VT*VT

Troy rolled over silently in his bed, wincing slightly at the shooting pain in his temple. He'd suffered the usual, this time for "humming" when his "dad" was trying to watch the game. He sighed quietly and proceeded to rubbing the side of his head as his heavy eyelids fluttered closed.

_Gabriella…_

His eyelids flew open and he gazed at the semi dark ceiling above him, a smile play at his dry ripped lips.

MAKE A CHANGE

"…astatine…err, radon?" the tall skinny silvery blonde, with visible brown roots, gazed down at her open palm quickly and back up at the semi-asleep class. She looked at the teacher quickly the back at her open palm. Her light, sparse brows furrowed as she raised her hand closer to her face, "Fancum… no, um…francium, radium, and, um… anti-something." She ended lamely. The auburn-haired teacher sighed and stood up from where she sat on her desk.

"Actinides" She corrected. The blonde nodded, pretending to understand, and flipped her long hair over her shoulder.

"Right" She hurried back to her seat, looking relieved. The teacher, Ms. Summers turned back to the class, looking slightly frustrated. Strands of her straight brown hair falling over her pale squared face

"Okay, can someone name me the… non-metals?" Taylor's dark hand immediately shot up, again. Gabriella giggled as she watched her friend nearly fall out of her seat; by the way she was jumping about. Ms. Summers grinned as her amused hazel eyes passed over the girl. They landed on Gabriella. "Ms. Montez," Gabriella froze and gazed at the older woman who motioned for her to come forward. Shakily, Gabriella left her seat and went to stand beside Ms. Summers. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, including the cold coral-blue. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Taylor's hand fall disappointedly onto the table, yet again. "Yes, the non-metals, in order."

Gabriella nodded and let her brain do the talking, "Boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, arsenic, selenium, bromine, tellurium, iodine, and astatine."

Ms. Summers smiled and clapped quietly. "Good." Her hazel eyes landed on Troy, taking in his dreamy expression, and the smile playing at his thin lips. She stared at him in confusion. That was new. Whenever he was day-dreaming in class, he always had an unreadable expression on his stone face, and he _never _smiled. "Mr. Bolton?"

Troy looked up, his face turning hard once again. He glared at the teacher, the intensity of his gaze suddenly making her feel small. "Um… give me the symbols for the first twenty-five elements."

"H, He, Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Ne, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn ." He muttered boredly, watching Gabriella as she shyly made her way to her seat. The brunette gazed at him in shock. She hadn't taken him to be smart, more like average. She looked away quickly when she noticed him looking at her.

*HSM*HSM*HSM*

"I never knew that Troy was smart." Gabriella asked Taylor as the two made their way to their lockers after Chemistry. Taylor paused before answering to take a few books from her locker.

"That's what he wants everyone to think, but he really is." She turned and watched Gabriella curiously. "Why? Were you watching him?" she smiled, raising her dark brows. Gabriella blushed and stuttered,

"W-well, I-I'm new and, you know…I just want to get to know the, um, school, yeah."

"Has anyone ever told you that you suck at lying?" Gabriella's cheeks turned red and looked down.

"Yes." She admitted.

"Well, I'm of those people, 'you suck at lying'." Taylor giggled, and then her expression turned serious. "So, what do you find interesting in him?"

"Nothing!" she blurted. Taylor scoffed.

"Yeah, and Ryan can't dance. For real, Gabs. Is it his looks, his abs, his voice, his school status, his body?"

Gabriella blushed, pulling out her own books, and avoiding Taylor's suspicious gaze. She shook her head quickly racked her brain quickly to find another subject to talk about. "Um, so yesterdays Algebra homework pretty tricky, right?"

"Do not change the subject, Gabriella Montez!" Taylor warned, sharply. She leaned against the locker beside Gabriella and stared quizzically at her. "A bit, now, back to…" Taylor trailed off as the bell sounded loudly. She gave Gabriella a look that read

_This is far from over,_ and stalked off to her next class.

Gabriella giggled as she slammed her locker shut.

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Review...  
**


	3. Chad Danforth

**A/N: Enjoy.

* * *

**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 3 – ****Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

As the weeks wore on, Troy found himself strangely and unexplainably attracted to the new Hispanic girl that had turned him down multiple times. Meaning, every little thing she did he noted it down silently in his head. By the end of the first week since she had arrived at East High School he had found out a great deal about her;

She had moved about twenty-nine times in the last six years. Her mother was a workaholic. She hated sharp objects. She had a furry doll she treated like a real pet. He even took in her regular habits. Whenever she was solving a difficult problem, her brows would knit together and she would chew continuously on her lip.

This new feeling scared Troy a lot, he had never acted this way over any girl. Especially a new girl who fit into the nerd category!

From the end of a deserted hallway, he watched her walk out of her Physics class, long after everyone had left the class and maybe even the school. She was smiling to herself with a few thin books pressed tightly to her swollen chest. Her dark tresses fell lazily across her face fanning her clothed shoulders. She still didn't notice he was following her as she glided to her locker, oblivious to the world around her.

Troy smiled. He was a stalker.

He took in a deep breath to calm his nerves and fixed a bored expression on his tanned face. He stuck his large hands into his jeans pockets and strode over towards Gabriella, in a way most girls found hot. Gabriella stood with her back to him, stuffing books into her locker at the same time trying to push her untamed curls out of her eyes. She still hadn't noticed Troy walking towards her neither did she look up. Just as he reached the locker beside hers, a loud male voice yelled his name from down the hall. Troy groaned as he recognized the voice. He watched as Gabriella jumped and whirled around; he noticed the way her dark eyes formed slits as they landed on him. Chad approached them and began yelling at Troy without even noticing Gabriella,

"Man, where the hell have you been?!" he demanded, slapping Troy's bicep harshly. He glared at Gabriella as though she was some low life pest and spat distastefully, "get lost, nerd."

Gabriella glared at him in disgust. It was _her_ locker and _he_ was telling her to "get lost"!

"Asshole." She muttered quietly under her breath still glaring at him. Chad didn't seem to have heard her, but Troy did. He said nothing, for reasons he didn't know of instead he sent her a tiny wink; and got the reaction he expected, a rude gesture.

"Come on, we've got practice and….." Chad stopped as he notice Gabriella was still there, glaring at Troy. "I said _get lost._" He took a dangerous step closer to her but she stood there firmly her snake like eyes fixed on his. Troy felt a sudden gush of protectiveness build up in the pit of his stomach as Chad attempted to shove Gabriella. He grabbed his best friends' arm and roughly hauled him away from her.

"Let's go, practice should've started by now." Troy quickly said.

Chad threw a hateful glare at Gabriella before furiously stalking after Troy.

ZANESSA-ZANESSA-ZANESSA

"Why the hell didn't you let me teach that freak of nature where it belongs?" Chad snapped angrily shoving past Troy.

"Because," Troy replied, smiling, "I'm not ready to get another detention, keep this in mind, Chad. Four more detentions this semester equals permanently off the team." The two were walking out of the locker rooms long after everyone else. Due to their lateness to attend after school basketball practice they had to stay behind after everyone else and run laps, then Coach Bolton had forced them to work on some free throws then practice dunking and finally shooting baskets from half-court. To Chad that was major torture, but to Troy it was nothing. His insides twisted agonizingly as he waited for the pain that was yet to come later that night.

"That's still not a good enough to stop me pummeling a nerd to their senses." Chad snarled as his dark hand formed a fist. Troy chuckled quietly, "it's just one nerd, man. Let it go."

"I will for now." Chad muttered. He and Troy exchanged a quick goodbye and he skipped over to his car. Troy glanced around the parking lot for his truck. He spotted it and slowly made his way towards the nearly deceased vehicle. Taking his time, he was in no hurry to get home, he knew what was coming, and if he was lucky his dad might have passed out on the couch with a bottle of beer in his hand. But luck was never on his side.

After what felt like a day in hell, Troy finally managed to push his drunken father away from him.

"You worthless piece of shit!" his screamed his words slurring due to the amount of alcohol working its way through his system, "Ah shoulda done what your w…worthless mother did. But now I'm stuck here with you ungrateful little twerp."

Due to years of verbal abuse, Troy had found a way of blocking out his fathers' hateful words and heard nothing as limped up the stairs as fast as he could without even glancing back when he heard a loud thump that sounded like a body hitting the floor.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's short, but I have MAJOR writer's block! Review.**


	4. Pink, glitter and a shocking discovery

**A/N: Chapter 1 of Camp Redwood has been redone, and chapter 7 of my best friend or my boyfriend has also been redone, and I'm thinking about redoing chapter three of this story, it was too short. I'll do it when I have time.**

**ENJOY!!! And Review.**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 4 – ****Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

As Gabriella rolled out of bed the next morning, she felt lazy. Even the way she dragged her legs showed signs of laziness. Her eyes were barely open when she stepped out of the shower moments later and pulled on her clothes for school.

She sat hunched over her bowl of cereal, tiredly swirling the soggy Bran flakes around the milk with her spoon. Her free hand toyed with a tiny note rested by her bowl of cereal. Her mom was in Alaska, for one and a half weeks! This was the first time Gabriella had been left alone for that long. Her mom was barely _ever _home. Most of the time she traveled from state to state, but only for a few days. Gabriella was used to it, so she didn't really mind.

She dumped her untouched cereal in the sink and grabbed her single strap backpack off the bottom step, where she had carelessly thrown it after stumbling down the stairs earlier, before she slowly walked out of the front door. She locked the door and stuffed the key in the back of her jeans pocket.

The walk to East High seemed to take a lot longer than usual. Gabriella found herself turning around frequently. She was pretty sure she someone was following her or she was being watched closely and every time she turned around, there was no one there. Thinking her mind was playing stupid tricks with her she decided to ignore the feeling. She slung her bags' single strap further up her shoulder and clutched the metal tightly. It wasn't that cold.

September was already coming to an end. A small breeze blew several strands of her hair across her eyes. Just as she pushed the hair back, she noticed a noisy white truck zoom past her and turn sharply around the corner. "Weird people." She muttered not really in the mood to care.

Gabriella almost forgot about the strange truck when she walked into the doors of East High nearly fifteen minutes later. She barely had a glance at the school before she was suddenly blinded by a lot of _pink _and _glitter_; two of the things she despised. When she was free of all the glitter and pink, she blinked several times before opening and closing her mouth unable to string words together.

"You must be _Gabriella_!?" a loud voice squealed from within the depths of the pink glittery blob. Gabriella stared at the creature, appalled. "OMG! I have always wanted to meet you… well ever since Taylor told me about you yesterday!" the pink creature continued still oblivious to Gabriella's shock and confusion. Still confused, Gabriela blurted, "and you are?"

The pink creature—who actually, Gabriella assumed, was a preppy blonde with a love for pink and of course, glitter—looked hurt for a second but it quickly evaporated and she beamed showing off her dazzling pearly white teeth. "I'm surprised Taylor never told you about me. Must have forgotten," she stuck out her hand. Gabriella eyed her pink square nails before hesitantly taking the blonde girls' hand, "I'm Sharpay." Gabriella opened her mouth to speak but Sharpay cut her off, "eh. Who cares." Without warning, Sharpay engulfed Gabriella in an asphyxiating embrace for the second time that day. Gabriella kept her hands at her sides, uncertain whether to hug the exhilarated fair-haired stranger. Before she could decide, Sharpay pulled back and analyzed Gabriella carefully, "you need 'Sharpay's touch'. Ooh, we could go shopping together, today! We could ask the girls if they want to come!" Sharpay dropped a slender arm around Gabriella's shoulders and began strutting down the hall towing a confused Gabriella with her whilst talking non-stop about shopping and some other stuff that entered through Gabriella's left ear before exiting through her right ear.

A few students passing by or loitering in the hallways snickered as the two walked—well dragged in Gabriella's case—past, while other sent her sympathetic smiles. _I take it no one likes to be around her. I wonder why _she thought to herself sarcastically. _Don't just stand there and watch! Help me! HELP ME!!! _She screamed in her head hoping someone would pull her out of Sharpay's clutches. But no one rescued her.

"…and ooh, we could do each other's nails!" Sharpay threw her arms around Gabriella again, squealing excitedly. "This could be the beginning of a fabulous friendship" she stated, unwrapping her arms from Gabriella's shoulder.

"Sorry?" she asked, but Sharpay didn't seem to have heard her and was opening her locker (HSM3-Sharpay's locker). Sharpay pulled her locker open and turned back to Gabriella to speak. The confused brunette sighed in relief when she heard Taylor's familiar voice calling her name. Taylor stopped before them and looked between the two, smiling "I see you've met Sharpay," Taylor spoke to Gabriella, "did she give you the whole 'wonderful friendship' thing?" Taylor smirked at Sharpay as she spoke.

"I don't use 'wonderful' anymore" Sharpay butted in, scowling at Taylor "it sounds too posh."

"Don't worry, Gabs. She's always like this when she first meets someone, "Taylor assured her.

"Like what?" Sharpay cut in again,

Taylor spoke, ignoring Sharpay, "but once you get to know her, you'll love her like I do. Trust me on this."

Gabriella nodded. _If you want to make friends, might as well give it a shot. _"How come I haven't seen you around?" A girl like Sharpay is _impossible _NOT to notice.

"Oh, I was in Seychelles with my family. We just came back yesterday." She explained. "And check this out" she raised her arm and pushed it in front of their faces shaking her wrist. A colorful bracelet that looked like it was made of shells hung off her wrist "it's made of shells and corals. I got it from a souvenir shop. I even got you guys some souvenirs too. But they're at my place."

"That's cool, Shar. Sounds like you had fun?"

"I did, but next time. You guys are coming."

"I have to go to my locker. I'll see you in homeroom." Sharpay nodded and gave Taylor a hug while Gabriella stood there awkwardly unsure of what to do. But Sharpay being Sharpay pulled her in for a bone crushing hug.

"Is she always like that?" Gabriella asked once they were quite far away from Sharpay.

"Sharpay has the tendency to get a _little_ overexcited when it comes to meeting new people" Taylor explained, "but she's a really nice person under the pink, the glitter and the peppy attitude. She's a really good friend. You'll like her."

***

"Then Ryan fell off the turtle." Sharpay laughed as she explained her trip to Seychelles to Taylor and Gabriella, "I had to scratch the turtles butt for it to move. It was gross. Then I met this guy C-U-T-E!" Gabriella giggled and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

"I know, and his hair was like so… whatever!" Chad Danforth spoke, imitating a high obnoxious voice. As usual he had a basket ball tucked protectively under his left arm. Behind him the rest of the school's basket ball team snickered, including Troy.

"Got a problem, Danforth?" Taylor snapped glaring at the whole team.

"Besides you?" Chad tapped his chin pretending to look thoughtful, "no."

"Fuck off, asshole!" Sharpay snapped anger flaring in her hazel eyes.

Troy was barely listening. His eyes were fixed on the raven haired girl sitting quietly in the back, her dark eyes darting back and forth as more insults were flung from one person to another. He watched her closely like he had earlier that morning, something he knew only stalkers did. He smiled unconsciously was she let out a small giggle when Taylor insulted Chad so bad he was speechless. Humiliated, he turned on Gabriella,

"What you think it's funny." He barked rhetorically. Gabriella was shocked at how quick his anger turned from Taylor to her but she expertly hid it.

"And if I do?" she shot back with the same anger as his. A few of the brave onlookers' burst out in a series of "oohs", by that time Chad was beetroot. He had expected his best friend to at least back him up, but when he turned to look at Troy he found him staring at Gabriella trying to hide the smile forming on his lips. Something was wrong. Troy _never _smiled, nor kept his gaze on a girl for more than ten seconds. This wasn't right and Chad was determined to find out what was wrong with his friend, but it could wait, embarrassment was something Chad Danforth could not handle; not ever.

He grabbed Troy's arm and literally dragged him away as usual the rest of the team followed, some hiding their smiles and covering their snickers with coughs. Troy leaned against his desk pretending to listen to Chad's rant about nerds who spoke their minds and muttering stuff like "what is this world coming to?" and some other stuff in actual fact, Troy was glancing curiously at Gabriella. She was different.

A copper haired girl with devilishly long legs barely hidden beneath a pleated too-short-for-a-mini skirt, suddenly pooped up in front of him blocking Gabriella from his view. She smiled seductively and twined her snake like arm around his muscular neck; her gray eyes twinkling. She placed her other hand on his chest and leant up. Her nose just barely brushed against his, making _her _weak in the knees at their closeness.

"Hey, Sarah" Troy muttered not really caring if that was her name. He only remembered one girl's name, Gabriella. The girl pouted and looked hurt,

"It's Clara" she paused hoping he would at least say something. He didn't. "But who cares." Clara pressed her body against his, which was soon followed by her lips. She tasted vile, but Troy didn't care.

"That is sick!" Sharpay remarked disgusted turning away from Troy and Clara.

Gabriella wasn't bothered; at least she thought she wasn't. Keyword: thought. "He's a jock. He can do whatever he wants."

***

Due to her evident tiredness, the day seemed to go on forever to Gabriella. By the time school was over she was already half asleep.

"Why are you so tired?" Sharpay asked. After spending less than a day with Sharpay, Gabriella had somehow, miraculously learned to like the blonde.

"I was up all night studying for the history test."

"Oh you mean the one we just had? I didn't know it was a test!"

"I have to go; Coach Bolton wanted to see me about something. I'll see you tomorrow." Without waiting for Sharpay's response, Gabriella walked towards where she was sure the school's gym was located. As she neared the gymnasium, she could hear angered voices coming from the gyms. Curious, she found herself seconds later standing by the door with her ear fused tightly against the cold metal. She stifled a gasp when she heard what sounded like a shoe coming in contact with a person's jaw soon followed by a raspy cry of pain.

"SHUT UP! Shut the fuck up!"

Gabriella's eyes widened in shock when the Coach's voice vibrated her ears drums; this was strange. She didn't know the Coach very well but she knew he was strict when it came to basketball. But this was new.

His words were followed by more grunts of pain, weaker and a lot more pained than before. The grunting sounded familiar. Unsure of what to do, Gabriella stood there motionless, deciding whether to intervene or just walk away and pretend like nothing happened. A door banged.

Gabriella stayed where she was, her heart slamming painfully against her ribs. She decided that now wasn't a good time to go and see the coach. She wasn't sure if she could ever look him in the eyes. "Don't jump to conclusions Gabriella. It might not have been him" she muttered quietly to herself, even though she was 99.99999% sure it _was him._ She pushed her body away from the door, only to jump back in fright when something against the door.

Her mouth dropped open when she raised her head and her eyes locked with the cold and pain filled blue eyes, glaring dangerously down at her…

**A/N: Short? I know. But I apologize. Review!!!**


	5. Why do you care?

**A/N:****Thanks for all the reviews! They mean A LOT! Anyway enjoy **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 5 – ****Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

VT!VT!

Gabriella stood there frozen. The intensity of his eyes kept her from turning away. Her windpipe clogged and her eyes grew to the size of ceramic saucers. Troy's cold eyes stayed locked on hers; the heat of his anger radiating off his athletic frame.

_Uh oh. _The voice in Gabriella's head screamed. She was well aware of the fact that she looked like a dying fish as her mouth opened and closed several times but she couldn't form coherent words on her tongue. Troy's gaze lowered and rested on her lips for less than a millisecond before he raised them and glared inquiringly at her.

"I…" Gabriella stuttered. She took a few tiny steps back due to the blues flame sparking in his eyes. Before she finally gained the courage to speak, Troy's venomous voice cut through,

"What are you doing here?" he spat, still holding his stony eyes on hers.

"I… your" she hesitated unsure whether "dad" was the right word to use after what had just happened "um, your…Coach Bolton" she swallowed when she noticed his eyes darken and he visibly cringed, "wanted to see me." She choked out the rest but felt slightly relieved when she saw that Troy hadn't moved instead his gaze softened a bit but it was still cold. Gabe Montez was a girl who barely ever thought before speaking the first thing that comes into her mind which was why she found herself asking, "Was your dad… hitting you in there?" before she knew it, Troy's palms were on either side of her head with her back pressed tightly against the wall and his body barely brushing hers. His eyes were almost black and his face was a dangerous red. Her mind went blank when she felt his warm breath blow across her face.

"Don't ever talk about this to anyone." His voice was low, almost a growl. _Sexy _The not-so innocent voice in Gabriella's head commented. "I want you to forget everything you saw." The desperation in his voice grew with every word. _I didn't technically see anything. _Gabriella thought but kept her lips sealed tightly.

"Don't you think you should tell someone?" she knew she was crossing a line but she didn't care.

"Look, just forget about it!" he growled pushing himself off her. He winced slightly but quickly hid it.

"Then if you won't talk to someone you should get that checked at least."

"Just LEAVE it, okay!" he snapped turning back to her, his eyes ablaze. Gabriella opened her mouth to speak but Troy cut her off, "you really do not know how to mind your own fucking business!" Troy had no idea where the anger came from; though part of it had to do with the fact that he had absolutely no idea how to act around Gabriella, especially when she was being impossibly annoying.

He turned away from her as he spoke. She was sure he was crying, but it was Troy Bolton. That was damn impossible, "please, just leave it" he begged quietly. She felt bad; really bad, and before she could control her actions, her small hand reached for him and gave his shoulder a soft comforting squeeze. She felt him tense and wrenched his shoulder from beneath her hand. She let her hand drop, as did her eyes.

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

"What are you sorry for?" he snapped keeping his back to her, "it's not like it's your fault."

"I—I don't know. I just am." Troy let out another tired sigh.

"Don't be. I don't want your sympathy." His shoulders shook slightly.

Gabriella looked at him curiously, "how do you get rid of all those gashes?" she asked eying the growing bruise beneath his left eye, "I mean I've never seen you like this"

"There's such a thing as makeup you know." He muttered. Gabriella unconsciously leaned forward, curious. He was lucky school was over or else people would start asking.

"Don't girls see it when you… um…" she trailed off awkwardly and felt the heat rise to her face.

"Lying is helpful." Gabriella looked at him confused, "I usually tell them I got into a fight. They'd believe anything as long as they get to touch Troy Bolton's body. They don't care about anything." Gabriella flinched at the bitterness in his voice, "but you're lying to them." She pointed out."

"So? I lie to everyone" Troy turned and raised his eyes at her, "are you always this annoying?"

"How long has this been going on?" she asked, ignoring his question. Troy smirked,

"I take it you are."

"This isn't right, Troy, neither is it healthy" she argued "you could get hurt real badly." _You know, I think this has been the most mature, well almost mature, conversation I have ever had with Troy Bolton! _Gabriella thought to herself with a small smile.

"Why do you care so much? Nobody does!"

"I don't know, I'm not saying I do…but…" Gabriella paused. _Wait, do I care? _Troy smirked triumphantly, "just leave it Montez."

"You know what! I will" she snapped angered. As she turned to walk away, she glanced back at Troy over her shoulder, "just think about it, Troy." And she left.

As she disappeared around the corner, Troy smiled. He had just realized something; Gabriella had called him Troy, twice. It sounded nice coming from her lips.

Troy's smile faltered. Chad was right. Something was most definitely wrong with him. He _never _smiled. Gabriella was really messing up his mind.

*HSM*

_Dear Diary,_

_Okay, first things first. Why the heck am I writing in a diary? And why the heck is Troy Bolton such… G** I can't even describe him! Ugh, I hate him! I. HATE. HIM. I hate his eyes, his hair, his lips, his abs. I hate everything about him! He's such a __cutie__… scratch that, Troy Bolton is far from cute! _**(So is Zac Efron =D) **_He's…he's… so hot… This is useless!_

Gabriella slammed the little black book shut and kicked it off her bed. Diaries were useless, just mindless little books where girl's just poured their hearts out into.

"_I mean, what's the point in writing one?" _she had complained to her mom when she had gotten her a cute little diary a few years ago _"If you keep it in your head, there's no way someone can come up to you, rip your head open and read your secrets, but if you write them down in a book it's the same thing as saying 'here's my book of secrets want a peek?'"_ her mother had just laughed at her daughter and kissed her forehead.

She pulled her biology text book towards her only to throw it off five minutes later. Usually, when she had a problem, she would talk to her mom about it, but seeing as she was all the way in Alaska, Gabriella chose to sit in front of the T.V. with a large tub of ice cram on her lap. She nearly laughed. It felt as though she just got dumped, but actually she was worried and confused.

It was Friday, so she wouldn't have to worry about seeing Troy or Coach Bolton for at least two days- if she was lucky. She barely watched the movie, but found herself stuffing fistfuls of popcorn into her mouth and all over herself as she replayed the days events in her head.

She knew that Troy had a mysterious appearance but she always thought it had to do with something that had happened in the past, not something that was still going on. The biggest shock was that Coach Bolton would actually do something like that. Sure he was strict when it came to the Wildcats and basketball, but she never would have thought he would be the kind to actually abuse his own son. She now believed the terms "never judge a book by it's cover" and "appearances can be deceiving" She noticed the end credits of the movie flashing across the screen but barely registered it. It was so quiet that when her cell phone began vibrating, she jumped in shock and nearly dropped her bowl of popcorn on her mom's favorite rug. Getting over her shock, she leaned forward and picked her vibrating cell phone off the glass coffee table. She stared quizzically at the unfamiliar number before opening the message;it consisted of one word. She stared at it, puzzled. Why would someone send her that?Who hurt me? she thought aloud. She nearly called the number, but decided that maybe the person had sent it to her by accident. She closed her cell phone and set it back on the coffee table.

"It was an accident" she told herself over and over again as she thought about the five letter word.

_Sorry._

It didn't make any sense.

-HSM-

A few miles away from where Gabriella sat, Troy lay on his back in his backyard, his cell phone clutched tightly in his hand. He couldn't believe it. He had just said "sorry" to someone. The last time he had apologized to someone was in kindergarten, but that was because his teacher had forced him to after he punched a boy who had spilled his chocolate milk all over his cookie. He let his basketball roll onto the court. He had no idea what had possessed him, but he prayed it would never happen again. He realized that she probably had no idea whose number it was, then again she could have checked in the student guide. That was how he found hers. Maybe... His thoughts were interrupted,

"Why are you taking a break? I never let you take one!" a gruff voice growled from behind him. Troy jumped in fright and threw his cellphone onto the grass before reaching for the orange ball still rolling away from him.

**A/N: I apologize for the shortness and the delay, but I'll try and make my chapters longer, and update frequently. Review. **


	6. Suspicions

**A/N: I don't like this chapter so much. I have no idea why. As usual, Enjoy…**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 6 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

The weekend had been a blur for Gabriella. She hadn't left the house once. Taylor and Sharpay had tried to convince her to go shopping with them, but she refused. For some reason, she was moody and anti-social. She stayed in her room lying on her bad, thinking or on her laptop, looking up information on child abuse. But most of the time she was on her bed, her cell phone close by, wondering whether the person that had texted her would call or send her another text message. But they didn't. The only times her cell phone actually rang—and every time it did she'd literally run to get it, hoping the mysterious person was trying to contact her—was when her mom was calling to check up on her, or Taylor or Sharpay. By the time she was sitting in Ms. Darbus class on Monday morning listening to Sharpay talk about her weekend at some resort on the outskirts of Albuquerque, she was already a hundred percent sure that the text message wasn't meant for her.

"Are you okay Gabs?" Sharpay stopped to ask. Even though the two had just met three days before, they felt as though they'd known each other for years. They were as close as Taylor and Gabriella were. Gabriella looked up and noticed that both Taylor and Sharpay were looking at her in concern.

"I barely slept is all." She whispered, pretending to stifle a yawn, which was true. After her discovery, she suddenly found herself thinking about Troy; 24/7. When she'd first met him, she _hated_ him, but now she was sympathetic towards him. She hadn't seen him yet and was scared to. She had forced a tiny smile when Coach Bolton had said "hi" to her as she walked past him, but didn't make eye contact, instead she suppressed a shiver and half ran half walked away from him.

Both Taylor and Sharpay could tell when someone was putting up an act. They exchanged questioning looks. They knew that there was something else bothering her. Taylor left it, but Sharpay raised her perfectly arched brow at her. She narrowed her eyes, "you said that last week."

"I know. I still am." Gabriella argued, as if on cue she let out a real yawn, "see?" she muttered. Taylor, who had been silent for a while looked thoughtfully at Gabriella.

"For the last time, Chad, there is nothing wrong with me!" Gabriella's head shot up at the sound of Troy's voice. _Chad found out? Wait, did already know before? Is Troy okay?!_ The questions swirled uncontrollably in her mind. Troy looked irritated as he walked in with Chad close at his heels and of course, a basketball tucked securely under the afro boy's arm, as usual. Chad lowered his voice as practically the whole class turned to stare at the two, mainly Troy. Gabriella had to strain to hear what they were arguing about.

"You rarely _ever _smile. Like really smile!" Chad argued "especially at some girl. A newbie nerd for that matter." he sounded worried.

"I do smile at girls" Troy muttered defensively. As if to prove his point, he smiled at a red haired girl who couldn't seem to remove her eyes from him. He turned away without waiting to see her response and fixed his eyes in an "I told you so" manner on Chad.

"Yeah that was forced. I mean like really smile."

"Okay, whatever I don't smile at girls, happy?"

Chad shook his head, "you were smiling at that new girl. Why?" a triumphant smirk spread across Chad's face when Troy's eyes widened in shock. It took Gabriella a while to realize that they were talking about _her_. She found herself sitting on the edge of her seat, listening closely to Chad and Troy's argument. _He smiled at me?! I always thought those were fake smiles. Actually more like smirks!_

"I don't know. It's nothing so just forget about it." Troy groaned. He rudely dismissed a cheerleader who had decided that her new seat was on the center of his desk. Chad's brows rose so high that they were partially concealed within the thick jungle he called hair.

"And that! You never turn down a girl willing to make out or have sex with you!"

Troy's temper rose and his eyes darkened, "you don't me as well as you think you do, Chad!" he hissed. Chad was used to Troy's anger and mood swings. He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and took his seat right behind Troy's. Immediately, Zeke Baylor, who sat behind him, began talking to him about basketball. At first Chad was listening then his eyes darted over to Troy. He scowled when he noticed Troy was staring at Gabriella, not glaring or ogling, but just staring. He was sure something was going on between the two and was determined to find out what. He looked past Gabriella and Troy and his gaze lock on Taylor's. He noticed that was also staring quizzically between the two. _Something's up. Even Mckessie looks suspicious! _He glared one last time at Gabriella before turning away and listening to Zeke.

VGTVGTVGTVGTVGTVGT

Gabriella stood by the bleachers, tugging at her shorts. She hated short things; almost as much as pink and glitter—thankfully Sharpay had toned down with the glitter and pink.

Unfortunately she didn't have Physical Ed. with Taylor or Sharpay, reason; they hated all kinds of sport, well most kinds. There were barely any girls on the large football field, or on the bleachers. Most of the girls there were either tom boys, cheerleaders—only there to stare at the guys—and her. The only nerd. Actually the only nerd that loved running. When she was younger, her dad would usually take her out to the park whenever he was going for his morning jog, and the two of them would fool about. Then began her passion for running. She had entered many competitions, and had quite a few trophies and medals, but those were kept in a large box, stowed in the every back of her closet. She hadn't looked at them in a while.

Ever since her dad left, three years ago, she found that running wasn't one of her main priorities. She had stopped but after a recent talk with her mother, she decided to take it up again; which was why she was now leaning against the bleachers, stretching muscles that had not been used in over two years. There were a few people already on the large track, warming up by jogging, and another few on the football field stretching or lazing about under the New Mexican sun. She began a light jog. She smiled. It felt good to be back on the track field.

"Sexy legs!" some guy yelled a little way behind her; Gabriella ignored him and continued jogging, by her second lap, she could already feel the sweat droplets forming on her skin. She made no movement to wipe them off and let them roll down her body. A few more immature males wolf-whistled at her, they did the same to nearly all the other females. She was pretty sure that if they knew she was Gabriella Montez, they wouldn't say anything, or maybe just make fun of her. They couldn't see her face her dripping hair made sure of that. "Looking good!" another yelled. Gabriella nearly laughed out loud as she imagined Taylor's comment about the guys at East High in her head. "Think I could get digits?" another mumbled to a friend loud enough for Gabriella to hear. She pretended as though she couldn't hear them. She heard the girls in the bleachers whispering to each other about her.

"Just leave her alone." She could distinctively hear Troy hiss. He was right behind her, jogging really slowly. Gabriella turned to him in disbelief, taking in his appearance. He was wearing a sweat suit. _In this heat! _She thought even though she was sure he was hiding the bruises and scars. She felt bad for him. His eyes looked darker than before and a lot colder. He avoided her curious gaze and proceeded to look at his feet. Gabriella stopped jogging and watched him as he jogged past her wordlessly. She wasn't the only one looking at him curiously. Every eye was darting quizzically between the two, but Troy didn't seem to notice, his eyes were set on the ground as he rounded the turn. Gabriella stood where she was and watched him. She was curious to see how he behaved with his dad around people. Sure she had seen them interact, but she had never actually taken notice. Troy must have known what she was thinking because when he was running past her again, he slowed down and sent her a "don't" look. She didn't move neither did she say anything as he ran past her.

Gabriella just started jogging when a loud whistle sounded. She stopped and looked towards the field. Coach Bolton had just arrived. His green eyes were watching each of the students closely. Gabriella noticed the way they turned to hate when they landed on Troy but he pretended not to notice and looked back at his dad. No one seemed to notice the exchange. Coach Bolton immediately set them to so activities—well basketball—not caring if anyone had warmed up. Gabriella stood awkwardly by the sidelines and watched as Coach Bolton separated them into two teams. _Wow, is it just me or does Coach seem harsher now? _

She spoke to no one and no one spoke to her as she joined her team, which Troy just happened to be in. He didn't look at her when she stood a little bit behind him; neither did he acknowledge her presence. Both teams piled onto the basketball court and some insanely tall guy from their team with spiked black hair and hazel eyes stood in the center of the court, opposite a guy who was slightly shorter, with platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes. He was a lot more muscular than the other guy. Both had their knees bent ready to dive for the ball when it was released.

Coach Bolton threw the ball up and both guys jumped for it. Seeing as she was the only nerd there, Gabriella had expected to be excluded from the game. That was until Troy bounced the ball to her, his face expressionless/unreadable. Gabriella caught the ball and felt slightly lightheaded. _He passed _me _the ball! _A voice in her head screamed. Troy was watching her closely. Both seemed to forget where they were and what was happening around them.

Someone yelled at Gabriella and she jumped with a start tearing her eyes away from Troy. She noticed quite a lot of people from the opposing team were running towards her, arms outstretched and sinister smirks on their faces. She darted towards the net, thankful for her running skills. Just as she neared the pole, she tossed the ball sideways to the first familiar face she saw; Troy. Troy didn't look at her as he caught the ball and sent it sailing swiftly through the net. He high fived Chad who seemed to have appeared out o nowhere. The rest of the game went by like a blur. The other team won; 40-37. When Gabriella left for the girl's changing rooms, she saw that Troy had pinned some tall brunette girl in incredibly short shorts that could pass for underwear, against the bleachers and was furiously making out with her. She wondered what his dad thought about his whole player status, or maybe he had no idea about it. She shook her head and disappeared into the changing rooms, thankful it was almost empty.

As she trudged to the very back of the room, she noticed quite a lot of people were glaring at her. She guessed it had to do with the fact that Troy Bolton had stood up for her—kind of. Gabriella was a very self conscious person, being picked for so long; so she waited until the changing room was empty before she slipped out of gym clothes, and took a quick relaxing shower. Moments later, she emerged from the changing room, only to stop when she heard hushed angry voices.

"Why didn't you win this game?" Coach Bolton snapped.

"Dad, it wasn't a game. It's P.E." she heard Troy mutter.

"Everything to do with basketball matters!" Coach Bolton hissed, and it was soon followed by fading footsteps. Gabriella stayed where she was. This was the second time she'd witnessed Mr. Bolton's…other side, but this time there was no hitting…thank God.

"You seem to be everywhere"

Gabriella jumped back at the sound of Troy's harsh voice. She stifled a scream and stammered an apology trying to hide her tomato colored face from him. "Why do you always sneak up on me?"She retorted after gaining her confidence. Troy looked away and seemed to find the plain wall above her head a lot more interesting than her face as he flicked his chestnut bangs out of his eyes before speaking. "Don't you have a class to go to?" his eyes were a deep sea blue when they lowered and locked with hers. Gabriella could feel her heart hammering dangerously against her ribs and her face heat up. _This is so WRONG! _She screamed at herself, _you're not supposed to react this way to Troy Bolton! _"Lunch?" she choked. Troy smirked at her hesitance, he sensed the effect he had o her; he had it on most girls. His eyes traveled down to her lips and for a second Gabriella felt like he was going to kiss her but instead he turned away, "I'll see you around Montez" and he left.

--

The miniature droplets spattered annoyingly on her head, soaking her within minutes as she walked away from the shelter of East High. Gabriella inwardly cursed herself for deciding to stay behind and do some studying in the library. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have been stuck in the annoying drizzle. Taylor and Sharpay had offered to drive her home, but she turned them both down, numerous times.

"Stupid." She muttered angrily to herself as the light rain increased suddenly to heavy rain. She squinted, trying to see through the pouring rain. She had managed to walk quite a long distance from the school despite slipping and stumbling a few times.

Due to the noise of the water, she didn't hear the loud purr of engine towards her left. Neither did she notice the dark Range Rover stop beside her, or the window rolling down. She didn't notice Troy leaning over the passenger seat and gazing amusedly at her. "Enjoying the rain Montez?" he called his smirk widening when she gasped in fright and her hand flew to her mouth. Her mocha eyes traveled over the wet black car before resting on Troy's face. She glared wordlessly at him before pushing several wet strands of her hair out of her face and continued walking, pretending as though he wasn't there. She decided not to get mad at him; he already went through enough torture already—even though he could be a little annoying at times. Troy smiled as his eyes traveled over her features. She looked amazing, even though she was wet she still did. His fingers were itching to touch her, to just feel her smooth skin beneath his hands; he was dying to feel her soft lips against his; to gaze into her…_Whoa there, Bolton! _He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, _steady_.

"Get in." Gabriella froze and looked at him in disbelief. _Why would Troy Bolton be asking her…wait…telling her to get into his car? TROY BOLTON! East High's god! _

Unless he was planning on kidnapping her…

**A/N: Tell me what you think by reviewing! Chow for now! (I know it's "ciao" by the way).Review.**


	7. On the ride

**A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner, busy, busy, busy! Thanks for all the reviews; they put a smiley on my face =D Enjoy… **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 7 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

Most of the things Gabriella did in her life—especially in front of boys—she did without thinking but at that moment, she could literally hear her brain working rapidly. Usually when she met a guy she really liked—which was rare—she'd start blabbing like an idiot, which always led to the boy never talking to her again. Truth be told, that only happened to her once in 9th grade and that was the last time she ever truly liked a boy. That was until Troy. But the way she liked Troy was different from the way she had liked the other boy. This was why she was still contemplating whether to accept a ride from him.

_Troy Bolton giving me a ride equals to disaster. The last encounter I had with it didn't turn out so good. _She paused and thought about her other option. _But then if I don't let him give me a ride I could get pneumonia. Or maybe kidnapped!_ She looked up at Troy. He look like he was about to start laughing any second.

"You coming or what?"

_I'll take my chances ._She finally concluded. "A ride with you…no thank you!" she half yelled over the pounding rain. Troy looked shocked at first but he expertly hid it behind yet another smirk, "and I'm supposed to believe that you don't want a ride with…" His last words faltered when he noticed her shirt was quite see through, even though the material was thick. _Beautiful, _he thought, _just beautiful._ His eyes widened and he nearly slapped himself for calling a girl—a newbie nerd for that matter—beautiful. He never complimented a girl or anyone. Gabriella had a strange effect on him and he did not like it at all.

He closed his eyes and took in several breaths of oxygen before he reopened his eyes. Gabriella was still staring quizzically at him; she watched as a crooked grin spread across his face. She looked down and her face turned a deep shade of red before wrapping her arms tightly around her front. _Oh my G-d! _

"You could let me give you a ride…or, would you rather get your books wet?"

_Damn him. Why the heck was he being so freaking persistent. _She screamed inwardly. _I mean there are so many things wrong with the whole situation—Troy Bolton giving Gabriella Montez a ride—how sick does that sound?!_She hadn't noticed that she had completely zoned out and was standing there looking like complete idiot until he spoke

"I promise I will not kidnap you."_Why do you want to give her a ride, Bolton?_ "You could get pneumonia." _Shut up! Just drive away man. She isn't worth it!_

"I don't know what's scarier. This whole situation or the fact that you know the word 'pneumonia'" Troy chuckled and watched her curiously. Gabriella shivered as she felt the icy water seep into certain 'places'. Troy opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "I'll get your seats wet." She pointed out. She wanted…scratch that needed a ride; I mean who wouldn't want a ride in this weather? But the only thing holding her back from accepting was the fact that Troy Bolton was sitting casually behind the wheel, watching her.

"I really don't care. Just get in."

She hesitated, but then did something she was sure she was going to regret later.

She walked away.

She had just barely taken two steps when she felt someone grab her from behind and lift her off the ground. She screamed and kicked, in a panicked state as she tried to fight against the person. But he seemed to be made of steel.

"You are not getting sick on my watch, Montez." Troy hissed in her ear when he had managed to place her in the passenger seat of his car. He strapped her seat belt and chuckled when she folded her hands in a stubborn manner and looked anywhere but at him. Troy rushed over to his side of the car. Once he was strapped in, he turned to look at Gabriella. She was still frowning, and looking out the window. Her body shook violently and Troy was sure if she didn't change soon she could get a really bad cold. "Why don't you take off your jumper?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you" she snapped, still not turning to look at him. But all the same she pulled the soaked material over her head, leaving her in a very thin short-sleeved v-neck top. Troy forced himself to look away; he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

"Better?" he asked in a teasing voice as she redid her ponytail still not looking in his direction. Troy's smile widened when she muttered sarcastically, "much" and proceeded to staring out of the window. She was relieved to be out of the rain, but still uncomfortable being in Troy's presence, alone.

"Aww come on, Montez. Can I get at least a 'thank you for your kindness, Bolton'?"

Even though his playful attitude was getting immensely annoying, Gabriella had to admit that it was quite amusing. "Usually victims act coldly towards their kidnappers."

Troy laughed at her words before letting his eyes travel back to the road and he started the car. The drive was silent. Troy's eyes strayed quite a lot from the road and would rest on Gabriella's still trembling frame. Once or twice a couple of strands of her hair would fall out of her bun and into her face, and every time Troy felt an uncontrollable urge to reach out and push the hair out of her face. But he only gripped the steering wheel tighter and fix his eyes on the road mentally cursing himself for wanting to do such a thing. He turned on the radio out of boredom and turned it off again. The rain had stopped and there was now a light drizzle.

"Can I ask you a question?" Gabriella suddenly spoke up breaking the awkward silence and turning away from the fogging window to look at him. Troy's lips stretched into a smile.

"You just did." Gabriella frowned at him. Troy caught her serious expression and his smile dropped; he nodded before turning back to the road.

"Why do you care if I get sick?" she asked, "I mean I thought you hate me?" she raised her eyes to look at him, waiting for his reaction and bracing herself to get ready to run out of the car before he could push her out into the rain.

Troy held the steering wheel tightly and shrugged, "I don't know." He turned to look at her, with a small smile "I don't hate you." Gabriella's eyes widened at his words, but she kept silent. _He doesn't hate you Gabriella, but that doesn't mean he likes you._ Gabriella turned to look at him; his eyes were still on the road. Her pulse quickened when she noticed a purple patch half hidden beneath the collar of his shirt."Are things between you and your dad getting worse?" she blurted. She clasped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that. Troy didn't answer her; neither did he look at her. She knew he heard her because of the way he gripped the wheel and the way his eyes darkened. Gabriella gnawed nervously on her lip and looked away from him. All she wanted to do was lean over and at least try to comfort him, but that would be suicide. He let out a low tired breath and ran his fingers through his chestnut hair but still refused to answer. "Your seats are going to get wet." She pointed out breaking the uncomfortable silence. Almost immediately Troy's mood changed and a wide smirk decorated his face.

"Chad's car" he looked at her and winked "you can mess it up as much as you want. It's called payback." Troy turned his eyes back to the road, missing Gabriella's amused smile. As much as she wanted to ruin Chad's car—something she knew Taylor would LOVE and would probably yell at her later for not doing destroying it—she didn't and sat quietly, nervously playing with her fingers.

The car stopped and so had the rain but the sky was still cloudy and gray.

Gabriella looked up at the familiar house on her right, "how'd you…" she started, but Troy smiled at her "lucky guess." He answered. She stepped out and thanked him but he drove away before she could ask him if he wanted to come in and change out of his wet clothes. "Yeah, change into what? A towel?" she muttered sarcastically as she unlocked the front door and stepped into the warm house. Kicking of her soaked shoes and shoes and hanging her wet jumper on the hamper, she thought about what he said. "'I don't hate you'" she repeated his words to herself "he doesn't hate me, but he doesn't like me…I think?"

As she stepped into the shower and let the warm water defrost her frozen body, her eyes bulged. _Oh my gosh. He knows where I live!_ Her mouth dropped open and she slumped against the wall of the shower, _then again maybe he probably knows where nearly all of the girls in Albuquerque live._ Her smile faltered slightly but it was still there. "Get a grip, Gabriella! It's just Troy Bolton." She hissed at herself. She was sure that by the end of the winter break, she might just end up like one of those girls that would spend days gushing about how cute Troy is. _Sick._

A half hour later, Gabriella was fishing food out of the refrigerator when her cell phone began ringing. She rushed to pick it up, partially hoping it just might be the person that had sent her the apology text. She checked the caller ID. It was Taylor.

"Hey, Tay!" she said in a sing-song voice. She nearly slapped herself. Troy was _not _supposed to have this effect on her!

"What is wrong with you?" Taylor questioned worriedly. Gabriella blushed, _stupid Troy._

"Sorry." She whispered quietly, "what's up?" she questioned. Taylor scoffed in disbelief.

"Hmm… why don't you tell me 'what's up'?" Gabriella's brows knitted in confusion. She was tempted to say _"the sky, the ceiling, and the clouds"_ but refrained from doing so, knowing it would only make Taylor madder than she already was.

"What do you mean?" **("Turn around…this could be the start of something new…"adorable!)**

"You know exactly what I mean!"

"You sound like I did something wrong, Tay."

"You did!" Taylor was almost yelling, "I promised my oldest sister I would never use his name in vain, but G-d, Gabriella! What were you thinking?! I know, you weren't thinking at all!"

"Huh?" Gabriella was still confused, "what are you talking about?"

"Care to explain why you were seen with Troy Bolton, in his car!" she asked. Gabriella's eyes bulged, _how did she know that?_ "Clara saw him drop you off; she was visiting a relative who lives a few houses down from you!"

"Wow, news travels fast."

"So you admit that Troy gave you a ride."

"How is Troy Bolton giving me a ride home bad?" she argued "I mean it was _raining_!"

"I could have given you a ride instead. Why didn't you let me?"

"I had no idea it was going to rain."

"Gabriella! There was thunder and lightning. It was CLOUDY! How could you not?!" Taylor paused, "wait, you turn down rides from me yet you accept rides from Bolton?" her friend hissed venomously.

"I had no choice, Tay!" Gabriella complained. She heard Taylor sigh "fine, but from now on we'll be giving you rides home."

Gabriella quickly refused.

"But it's not safe."

"Seriously, it's fine. Besides, it's the only time I can get my daily exercise." Gabriella smiled in relief when she heard Taylor let out a defeated breath,

"But if you get into any trouble, call me or Shar." Taylor warned in a motherly voice. Gabriella was almost tempted to say "yes mom" but bit her lip and nodded forgetting Taylor couldn't see her. "Now, I'm going to ask you a question I asked you a few weeks ago…what _exactly _do you like about Troy Bolton?"

Gabriella's mouth fell open; she hadn't expected a question like that! It sounded weird coming from the mouth of Taylor Mckessie.

"Taylor, just because he gave me a ride home does _not _mean I automatically fall for him!" she croaked

"Yes, but you were curious about him! Remember?"

"Yeah and what girl isn't?"

"Not the point. You know something about him that no one else does." Gabriella froze and clutched the phone tighter than she intended to. She knows!

"W-what makes you say that?" she stumbled over her words.

"Oh puh-lease. Today in homeroom, you had this 'I know your secret' look on your face and he had this 'if you tell, I'll kill you'. You have to be blind not to have seen it!"

Gabriella didn't respond. "What do you know about Troy that no one else doesn't, Gabs?"

Gabriella could feel her brain working rapidly. Excuse.

_Excuse! Damn brain, work!_

"Tay, I err think my mom's calling me. I gotta go." She lied.

"Your mom's in Juneau."

"I know. She's um on the phone. Yeah." Without waiting for Taylor to respond she hung up and switched her cell phone off.

_Shit. Shit…_

***

**A/N: The usual. Review! And Happy 2010 to all! The start of a new decade. WOOHOOO! **


	8. His Angel

**A/N: Enjoy. Warning there's a little M-ish part and nothing like you think.

* * *

**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 8 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

She couldn't find him.

He hadn't been at homeroom; he wasn't there for chemistry or lunch either. She had overheard a couple of members of the basketball team talking about how practice sucked without their captain. But the weird thing was people took his absence from school as though it was an everyday thing. She heard a couple of sophomores talk about how they would make their move the next day. Everyone seemed to be confident that he would come to school the next day.

But aside from the fact that Troy Bolton wasn't in school, it seemed as though everyone's attention was being focused on Gabriella. Every time she walked down a crowded hall, people, mainly the girls, would stop whatever they're doing and would to her and start whispering. She tried to ignore them but it was as though every where she went there were at least a group of people waiting for her to appear so they could talk about her. She hadn't bothered asking Taylor or Sharpay what was going on because she was pretty sure she had an idea of what was going on. Neither had she bothered to ask about Troy, especially with Taylor around. Instead she waited until lunch, when Taylor was talking with Martha Cox across the table, before questioning Sharpay quietly.

"Have you noticed that Troy Bolton isn't in school today?"

Sharpay's pointer finger froze over the line she had been reading in the script for the Christmas musical. She looked up and watched Gabriella suspiciously, her hazel eyes glittering, "are you only asking this because you guys managed to become so close, he gives you rides, in less than a day?" Trust Sharpay to raise her voice at the right wrong times. A number of heads turned excluding Taylor; on the next table—the jock/cheerleader/popular kids table—every single girl was either glaring intensely at Gabriella or smiling smugly at her. Gabriela bowed her head, hoping her hair would shield her reddening cheeks "no!" she mumbled, missing Sharpay's smirk.

"Troy usually misses school, quite a lot actually. But since school started, he hasn't missed until today." As Sharpay finished talking, Gabriella's mind began jumping to conclusions. _He's HURT! _Panic, fear and worry gripped at her insides. She realized her thoughts must have shown on her face when Sharpay suddenly asked her if something was wrong; she quickly nodded. "He's probably too busy with some girl to bother to come to school." The blonde assured her but Gabriella wasn't so sure about that, she had a suspicion that the reason Troy hadn't shown up at school had to do with his dad. In fact, she realized that neither Bolton had showed up that day.

Gabriella stared down at her food and instantly felt sick. Two reasons: 1. she hated Troy and feeling sorry for him was sickening and 2. Just imagining what Troy was going through at that very moment made her want to spill her insides.

"That's Troy new 'girl'" she clearly heard someone say.

"Her?" another girl hissed nastily "What does Troy see in her?" Gabriella ignored the; she had been getting comments like that ever since she walked into East High that morning. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned back to Sharpay, not realizing that Taylor's conversation with Martha had come to an end and she was watching her closely.

"So it's natural for Troy to miss a day of school?" she needed to make sure it was regular.

"Yeah," the blonde looked up from the lines she was trying to memorize, "why are you so inquisitive?" Gabriella shrugged and let her eyes drop back to her food missing Taylor's narrowed eyes.

Taylor turned to the jock/popular table; her brows rose when she noticed Chad Danforth shooting daggers in Gabriella's direction. The unidentifiable sandwich in Chad's hand had started turning into a slimy mess as he tightened his grip on it with each passing second. If he hadn't been glaring at her best friend, Taylor would have either burst out laughing or tease Chad about his filthy food habits, but since it was, she just stayed silent, not even glaring at Chad for she was just as mad.

Gabriella was perfectly aware that across the cafeteria Chad Danforth was probably thinking up ways to torment her or kill her slowly and painfully for probably ruining his car. She ducked her head and continued staring at her food not wanting to look at the hate-filled almost black eyes. After what felt like a millennia, Chad finally looked away and attempted to clean up the mess he'd made.

By the end of the day, Gabriella's distant behavior had affected both of her friends. But it wasn't only her that seemed distant.

Taylor also kept to herself the whole day; she barely even participated in class much to teacher's disappointment and shock. She wore a thoughtful yet worried expression and refused to tell anyone what was on her mind. The only one that was normal out of the three was Sharpay. She was as usual, loud and bossy but not as bad as usual; her friend's behaviors worried her and after trying to get them to talk multiple times she finally gave up and decided to give them their space…for now.

As Gabriella walked effortlessly away from East High, her brain had finally come to the conclusion that Troy was badly injured and doubtlessly lying somewhere…maybe bleeding to death!

But according to Sharpay it was natural so the whole bleeding to death seemed _almost _unlikely.

Troy couldn't move a single part of his body.

And when he did it hurt like hell! His eyes fluttered as he tried to touch the thick gauze wrapped firmly around his middle. Just a little pressure on the covered wound caused tears to form in his eyes and sent a sharp spam of unbearable pain through him.

He couldn't close his eyes; every time he did he still see _his _flaming emerald eyes glaring at him from a frightening height as the belt buckle slammed against his back over and over again, digging into his skin.

FLASHBACK

_As the buckle of the large belt slammed repeatedly against his back, Troy could feel himself losing consciousness. He could already feel the warm blood from the growing wound trickling down his body like a mini waterfall and just the thought of the blood made him slightly nauseous. He lay sprawled on the cold floor, his limbs unresponsive and weak, and his entire body turning numb by the second._

_He screamed in pain as he felt the sharp end of the buckle dig into his back. His father laughed from above and pushed the cold metal deeper into his son's back whilst kicking his sides._

"_Next time you won't come home late!" he growled, this time kicking Troy's shoulder. "7:00 means 7:00!" the next kick was directed to his arm then to his side._

_Troy opened his mouth to speak but he never got the chance when his dad's shoe connected with the side of his head and everything went black._

_END_

As Troy floated back to the present he could scarcely make out the voices of his dad and Dr. Gummer; a doctor and his dads close friend since childhood. Whenever his dad hurt him his father would call on Dr. Gummer. Of course he paid him sometimes and in turn he never told anyone about the two Bolton's. "…lay off him for a few days and let him heal." The doctor spoke in a quiet and gruff voice.

Troy hated him almost as much as he hated his dad. The doctor was moderately like Coach Bolton; they were both extremely violent and quick-tempered but Troy had learnt to ignore him like he did with his dad.

Suddenly, Troy felt a wave of drowsiness overcome him. _Asshole must have drugged me._ He thought before letting his eyelids drop and his mind float far away from the hell hole known as his life.

_She looked perfect._

_Way beyond _perfect_. Tiny hands clutching the front of the snow white dress whilst the back trailed along the silvery sand; dark waves tumbling down her shoulders and down her back; toes sheathed deep into the cool sand head tilted back and eyes closed tightly. She was an angel sent from above._

_Troy stared, transfixed at the girl/angel. He had no idea who or what she was neither did he care all he knew was that she was beautiful. The angel didn't seem to have noticed him. She stood perfectly still as the cold sea water climbed onto her feet soaking the bottom of her dress and burying her ankle deep in the salty sea._

_With her eyes still closed, she walked further into the water in a zombie-like state, with her hair billowing out behind her and the moon's silvery glow shimmering down on her perfectly curled hair. Troy continued to watch as the angel kept walking until she was waist deep in the water. As though he was possessed, again, Troy found himself reaching for her his long arms outstretched._

"_Wait!" the word spilled from his lips and he felt his feet lead him towards the suddenly rough water. The angel stopped but didn't turn._

"_I can help you." Her soft voice whispered all around Troy. He stopped running as he felt a sudden pain in his middle. He clutched his torso and felt his vision blur as he dropped to his knees; confusion, pain and curiosity clouded his mind. The angle finally turned but a dark menacing shadow hid her face from him. "Let me help you, Troy!" she called in the same soothing voice. Troy felt another stab of intense pain in his middle as she started wading to where he was crouching. She was quite near when he finally found the strength to speak "who are you?" his voice cracked and was barely audible. Even though he still couldn't see her face he knew she was smiling. _

"_You know who I am" and then she disappeared; so did everything else around him. Troy felt his eyes close and he dropped to the sand, exhausted. He felt himself drifting through nothingness, empty and confused._

Troy's eyes flew open. He was still laying in bed, his breaths coming out in short strangled gasps and each time he inhaled he felt a sharp stab in his chest. He tried to sit up but it was useless and only caused him a great deal of pain. He couldn't stop thinking about her, the angel. He had a strong feeling he knew who the angel was but he didn't want to admit the truth.

The dark hair, the small figure the high voice; it all led to one person,

Gabriella.

* * *

**I finally finished the planning and my friend says it's good so I hope all of you will like the way the story goes on. But anyway… Review.**


	9. Troy is back

**A/N: Enjoy… **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 9 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

"Troy you look hot today!"

"Troysie I'm free during lunch!"

"I love you captain!"

"Troy!"

Gabriella leaned back against a locker alleviated with a hint of a smile on her face as she watched several cheerleaders and members of East Highs basketball team parade down the halls with Troy Bolton in front and a tall girl with ruby red hair and gray blue eyes draped possessively on his body. Beside her she could hear she could just make out Taylor and Sharpay's snide and rude comments about the jocks at East High; but she didn't care.

All that mattered to her was the fact that Troy _looked _okay and thankfully wasn't dead. She muttered a soft curse as her heart rate accelerated when Troy lifted his head and looked in their direction, his dark eyes bluer than blue.

"What?" Taylor stopped her conversation with Sharpay and turned to look at her other friend. Gabriella shook her head and turned back to the jocks that were now crowded a little way off, by Troy's locker chattering loudly. Out of all the loud voices from the group, Gabriella could only hear Troy's. A small smile played at the young brunettes lips not realizing how much she missed Troy's voice. The bell suddenly rang and students began darting to their homeroom classes but none of the jocks or cheerleaders moved neither did they seem to hear the bell.

"Enough of this _garbage_!" Sharpay suddenly snapped loud enough for the popular crowd to hear and slammed her locker door shut. Only one person looked up; Zeke Baylor. Practically the entire school knew about Zeke's not-so-secret crush on the Ice Queen except the Ice Queen herself; and every time someone told her about the basket ball player's crush on her, she would always retort rudely, saying "and what guy isn't". But both her friends knew that she liked him back, secretly though she would never actually admit it to them.

"We should get to class" Taylor suggested breaking Sharpay and Zeke's long stare (well glare in Sharpay's case).

Sharpay snorted "yeah before the old hag loses her shawls." Gabriella giggled whilst Taylor rolled her eyes her face showing no sign of amusement. The trio walked down the hall to their class which coincidentally was where the "popular crowd" was still hanging. Taylor and Sharpay strutted forwards, their heads held high while Gabriella trailed quietly behind trying to catch a glimpse of the superstar. When she finally did she regretted it. Troy's head was bent, his back still against the white wall decorated with a red paw the size of a person's head; the crimson haired girl Gabriella had seen him with earlier stood in front of him, her arms twined around his neck like a vine threading through an iron fence and her lips pressed against his but Troy still had his arms folded across his torso instead of wrapping them around her body like she had with his.

Gabriella's smile dropped and she could feel a sharp sting as tears started to form in her eyes. She inwardly scolded herself; she refused to shed tears for an asshole.

It was 3rd period—free period—and Gabriella found herself in the school's theater helping Sharpay out with the autumn musicale, much to her dismay. Taylor had managed to escape and was off somewhere perhaps reading while she, Gabriella was stuck backstage painting a stupid camels head. "The freaking play is supposed to take place in France, why would they need a freaking camel" she had ranted to herself earlier when Sharpay had "ordered" her to paint the camel.

"Kelsi this is horrible!" Gabriella heard Sharpay snap at the tiny brunette with glasses sitting behind the piano. Sharpay slammed the several music sheets on the piano. "We need something that will wow the audience!"

Sharpay could be a really friendly and caring person, but when it came to the spotlight and theater, it meant business and with business she was just downright harsh; this was also one of the reasons why she got the role of East Highs Ice Queen. Gabriella watched from where she stood as Sharpay criticized the poor girl about her music, she hated to be in Kelsi's shoes at the moment. "Gabriella!" she jumped at the sound of her name. Sharpay had left Kelsi and was hovering above Gabriella her expression disapproving. "That camel isn't going to paint itself. Get to work."

"I have no idea _why _I'm doing this." Gabriella complained.

""Because you wanted to help a friend in need!" Sharpay called as she disappeared behind the curtains. Gabriella immediately whipped her cell phone out to call Taylor and demand to know where she was.

"NO cell phones in the THEATER!" Sharpay's voice floated through the curtains and Gabriella quickly stuffed her cell in her pocket.

"Who are you? Ms. Darbus?" Gabriella called back rhetorically but she just heard Sharpay laugh.

"No but I am" the gray haired woman draped in shawls sang from behind her "now paint, paint!" the young brunette immediately did as she was told.

Gabriella smiled as her sore legs came to a stop on the never ending track. The moment the bell rang she had dashed out of her class and wandered over to the school track looking around carefully to make sure no one was around before she changed into a comfortable running outfit before she started jogging.

Immediately after she had left the theater where she had held against her wish by Sharpay she ventured over to the library where she found Taylor talking quietly with a group of sophomores and a few members of the decathlon team. Gabriella had tugged Taylor away from the meeting and pulled her to the far corner of the library where the African-American had stifled laughs at her best friend's flustered face and strangled breathing. Gabriella had scowled and ranted to Taylor about her experience in the theater with Sharpay.

Gabriella shook the day's events from her head and leaned forward to grab her water bottle only to have another hand clasp around it before her fingers could touch it.

"Don't you think you should give that to the needy?" Troy smirked holding the plastic bottle away from her reach. Gabriella glared at him at the same time analyzing his outfit. Gray sweats with his number fourteen _WILDCATS _jersey. The cuts on his arms were barely noticeable and neither were the bruises; either they were fading or covered with makeup, but she was quite sure they were fading so she smiled. "What are you smiling at?" Troy snapped, raising his brows when Gabriella muttered a quick "nothing" and looked down.

"Can I please have my bottle back?" she asked still panting. Normally, when it came to picking on nerds, he wouldn't give a damn if they were having a heart attack or a seizure but again the same thing that possessed him to do all the un-Troy Bolton-like things he had done to Gabriella took over him once more and he hesitantly gave her back her bottle. She didn't smile or say thank you but just dropped onto the bleachers by his feet and took a long drink.

She looked beautiful with the dried sweat glistening on her bare bronzed shoulders visible beneath the sleeveless top she wore over the mid thigh shorts she wore.

The sweat ran perfectly down her golden muscled legs, leaving him wanting nothing more than to run his fingers over her smooth skin just to know how it felt or to just run his fingers through her damp hair while his lips worked along her jaw line. He snapped back to reality when she let out a tired sigh forgetting about his presence and stared out onto the on-going tracks. Troy watched her trying to figure out how to break the silence. Finally he said the first thing that came to his mind "Chad yelled at me today during practice for letting you ride in his car." Gabriella felt a sudden swell of anger build up in her chest and she turned on him her dark eyes resembling Voldemorts own red slits.

"I never told you to give me a ride!" she defended herself "from what I recall, Bolton _you _physically forced me into the car. I had no choice."

Troy beamed "ah, but you did" Looking over her head, Troy resisted the urge to grab her sweat drenched body and kiss her senseless.

"I didn't! For all I know if I ran out of the car you would have run after me and forced me back in!"

"But you weren't sure if I would have done that" Troy kept his calm façade but still refused to lower his gaze "Besides you should be honored."

Gabriella snorted "what? That I got a ride from you?" Troy shook his head the wide smile still on his face. Gabriella frowned; she had never been a fan of guessing games she always seemed to say the wrong thing and end up hurting someone which was exactly what happened next. "That I know the truth about you?" the moment the words left her mouth she regretted. She had been so frustrated that she said the one thing that had been swirling around in her head. Troy's eyes were almost slate when he lowered his gaze back on her. His mouth was a thin line and his jaw was clenched tightly, so tightly that his face started to turn a dull crimson. "I I didn't…I mean, it err was an accident…I'm sorry…" she stammered trying to reach up for him. Ignoring her, Troy pushed off of the bench and stalked away not looking back once. When he was sure he was far away from Gabriella's sorry eyes he fisted his hands and rested his forehead against the nearest wall and let his eyelids drop. This wasn't the first time when he'd gotten mad at the mention of his dad neither was it the last. The last time Chad had confronted him about the scars and what was going on with him. Troy had been so mad when his friend kept pestering him with questions that he ended up breaking Chad's nose. But when it came to Gabriella he just wanted to tell her about everything and that scared him so he always ended up getting mad and giving her the cold shoulder. Even though Chad was his best friend there were some things that they didn't talk about and ever since the nose incident Chad hadn't asked again for over four years even though he knew something was wrong.

"Ugh, Montez" Troy moaned softly to himself as he pushed himself off of the wall.

Gabriella left the track field about ten minutes after Troy did. She had gotten over the shock and anger at him, he really didn't' deserve even if he was a jerk 99% of the time he had enough anger and torture at home.

She had just walked out if the school when she heard Troy calling her (by her last name of course. She stopped walking and turned to him with a forced smile only to have it drop when he asked her the question she least expected him to ask.

**A/N: Review. **


	10. Simultaneous equations

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and I'll try to make this one longer. Enjoy.**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 10 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

***

Never once in his life had Troy Bolton ever felt his palms sweat and his brain turn to mush whilst talking to a girl.

Never.

And here he was, his muscles tense, his hands soaked and his brain unable to conjure any words that actually made sense in the English language, standing before the prettiest brunette girl he had ever laid eyes on.

Gabriella just stood there, arms locked at her sides and her mechanical smile slowly fading as she felt her cheeks begin to sting from smiling for so long, just watching Troy; watching and waiting.

"What is it?" Troy looked up at her as she spoke his face crimson all the way to the roots of his hair; he shook his head hoping it would help clear his thoughts and inhaled deeply only to let his breath out in the seven word question he had been meaning to ask her ever since he saw her on the track running like her life depended on it.

"Do you want a ride with me?" Troy kept his eyes on her face watching as her expression turned from concern to shock and confusion in the time span of a second. He had breathed the words so fast he was almost certain she hadn't heard them and he would have repeated them if he hadn't the evident change of her expression. But underneath that shock and confusion there was something else, something he couldn't quite put his finger on and it was bothering him whether he liked it or not. A long agonizing minute later she still didn't respond and Troy was definitely not a very patient person. "Do you?" this time he spoke with a lot more confidence and pride, his voice demanding and controlled. He almost smiled; he was back in control. He made a rule in head that he would _never _stutter or sweat in front of a girl like he just had.

Saying something is easy but actually putting it into action isn't "a piece of cake".

"Excuse me?" she suddenly looked and sounded angry. Definitely a bad sign. Automatically Troy felt his palms begin to secrete salty liquid; sweat. _Oh shit._

"Wasn't it you," she continued fixing Troy with a vigilant stare "that was complaining just a few minutes ago about how Chad was yelling at you for giving me ride?" her voice rose at the end and at the same time her face turned a dark scarlet; embarrassment and a whole lot of anger.

Troy smiled; she's cute when she's mad, he thought. "That was his car. This time it's my car. Come on, it's late and anything could happen?" not wanting to seem like he sounded desperate, he hastily added "besides, would you rather walk home after running like four miles, with muscles that could give way any second, under the this crazy heat or would you rather let me drive you home in a cool, air conditioned car? The choice is yours." He stood there watching her for a minute before letting out the fakest of a all sighs and turned around slowly waiting for her to stop him but she didn't move, so he shrugged and dug his hands in his sweats pockets feeling inconsiderably foolish and embarrassed and began walking away praying vehemently under his breath that she would stop him and take up his offer.

A couple of steps later: Silence.

Another couple of steps: More silence.

Three more steps later: Even quieter silence.

Ten steps later: _G*d! Will this girl ever stop being such a stubborn…?_

And finally, a dozen steps later, she yelled his name, nearly tripping over her feet as she tried to catch up with him. At first, Troy ignored her but when she finally caught up with him and panted "yes", he stopped and turned to her trying and failing all attempts to hide his signature smirk. He jerked his head towards the school's exit and she followed him half-heartedly her central incisors digging holes into her soft bottom lip. She climbed into the passenger seat of Troy's truck as the large "hunk of dying metal" roared to life after a couple of attempts at starting it, which was followed by a series of unintelligible insults flowing freely out of Troy's mouth.

Not a word was spoken during the _long _drive to the Montez house, mainly because:

Troy was trying to control himself and not turn on Gabriella and do all the things that were playing around in his mind (which surprisingly was just kissing and nothing more) so instead he focused on the road ahead not looking in her direction once.

Gabriella was having similar problems as well. Also the fact that she was sitting in Troy Bolton's car—East High's superstar, King, god, ruler, hottie, you name it—with him driving her home out of what she _hoped _was pity but was starting to believe otherwise.

The rusty old truck finally stopped in front of Gabriella's house trembling dangerously as though it would collapse any second. As Gabriella reached for her backpack, a disturbing thought struck her. _What if?_

Troy interrupted her thoughts, "you look a little pale, Montez." He commented. She blushed and snatched her bag up ducking her head and trying to clear her face of the red color that seemed to love terrorizing her whenever Troy was mentioned. She finally looked at him,

"Do you want to come in for a drink?" she almost shrieked with joy when the question came out smoothly, no stammering or faltering. Perfect. But all the same she shoved her right hand behind her back and crossed her fingers tightly.

Troy did a double take. His mouth fell open and his emotions flowed, one after the other; surprised, admiration, fear, vulnerability, more surprise, lust, anger, confusion, joy, wariness and of course shock. He noticed the way Gabriella's eyes changed as he revealed his emotions to her for the first time and hastily covered it all up. Within a second his blue eyes were back to being the cold and unfathomable eyes known as Troy Bolton's.

He turned away at the same time flicking his dark chestnut bangs out the cerulean oceans and nodded; a nod which was everything but hesitant.

And that was how Gabriella Montez found herself leaning against the countertop in her kitchen as she thought of the best way to offer Troy a drink while he was in the bathroom.

"'Do you want something to drink?'" She rehearsed only to shake her head, "No. Err… 'Troy, do you want a drink?'"

"I'll have water, please and thank you." A voice from the doorway cut her off. She whirled around; Troy stood in the in the doorway. He had had changed his sweats for jeans and ruffled his hair giving him the "just out of bed" look, he leant against the wooden doorframe his legs crossed, hands shoved deep in his pockets, eyes watching her and wearing, once again, his signature Bolton smirk, the same one that made the women swoon; even Gabriella. She fumbled in the refrigerator. She pulled out a small bottle of water and tossed it at him. Since she wasn't very good when it came to ball sports, her aim was bad and she ended up throwing the bottle quite far from where Troy actually stood but since Troy was a superstar at them he caught it lithely; no shock there. He unscrewed the cap and took a long drink before striding close to where Gabriella stood.

"Hey, um I kind of needed help with my algebra homework and I was wondering if you could help me since you're such a math geek?" he asked in a teasing voice. Gabriella pretended to look offended, "I am not a math geek" she said shocked at how easily the words flowed out of her mouth. "I just love it."

"Whatever" he said, his smile not faded, "geek." He added under his breath.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at him and pushed off the countertop, "since I'm such a nice person, I'll help you." She led him out of the kitchen and into the living room. She turned to face him only to take multiple steps back as she realized how close they were; she bent her head not want him to see the red tint on her cheeks and looked at him through her thick lashes. He froze as he inspected her closely, _fuck, she is so cute._ He commented, running his eyes over her. Feeling his blue eyes trailing over her slender figure, Gabriella suddenly felt uncomfortable and tried to pass the discomfort by staring at the fluffy cream carpet and caught her lip in between her teeth. _He thinks I'm ugly! I am. But I don't care, right? Wrong._

Feeling a burst of courage Gabriella raised her head to ask Troy a question only to have it get caught in her throat when she noticed the goofy smile on his face "you look cute standing there like that." He said genuinely and quickly exited through the front door and headed to his truck. Gabriella's mouth was the size of the open part of a bucket,

"He's crazy. I think he's on crack. He doesn't mean it. His head is messed up; really, really messed up. He doesn't mean any of it." Gabriella muttered to herself over and over again, when Troy was out of earshot. She leaned against the opposite wall and tried regulate her breathing which had spiraled out of control at Troy's comment.

A half hour later, the duo were lounging on the carpet in the living room, surrounded by books, various assortments of junk food and a near empty box of margarita pizza and a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries (both of them had realized while ordering pizza that they both loved this fruity sweetness), with Gabriella explaining simultaneous equations—for the third time—to Troy.

"Now do you understand?" she asked for the third time. Without hesitating, Troy nodded and reached over her for a slice of pizza only to have her slap his hand and he recoiled. Troy looked up at her, confused and ready to protest. "Not until answer questions one to, err, seven." Troy pouted, his lapis lazuli eyes shone through his chestnut bangs, relaxed yet alert and watchful. Gabriella felt the urge to reach up and push his hair out of his eyes and maybe just maybe he would let her run her fingers through his silky hair._ Stay cool, Gabs_,she warned herself. She nearly beamed as he grumpily grabbed a pencil, forcefully wrenched his math book open and began working on the equations. Gabriella watched him carefully, taking note of just the little actions he did when working, like how he would chew on the end of his pencil or start doodling nonsense when he was thinking, or the way he would look up at the ceiling at difficult questions and the way his eyes would light up and he would smile whenever he was sure he'd found the correct answer. Every time Troy did one of these simple movements Gabriella would feel her heart soar. After knowing him for just a few weeks, these feelings seemed quite sudden, and Gabriella was starting to believe that, that was how a serious crush started but she couldn't have a crush on Troy, sure almost every girl did but she believed she was different from all the others and she refused to crush on Troy even if it was way out of her control. No matter how hard she tried not to, she had already started liking East High's bad boy and player.

"Done!" Troy sighed in relief as he hastily pushed his math book to a thoughtful Gabriella and snatched the pizza box before she could stop him. She nearly giggled at his eagerness but she took his book and began looking through his answers. As Troy munched on his slice of pizza he watched Gabriella closely smiling at how she would play with her hair and smile, her upper lip between her teeth as she corrected his work. _She's very different from the others_, Troy thought not even bothering to tear his eyes away from her. _Yeah, unlike the others, she's real and caring and just plain beautiful no matter what she wore._

Gabriella looked up and blushed when she noticed he had been staring at her for a while, "I um finished marking, and you got five right."

Silence.

Neither of them realized that they had been inching closer to the other and by now their knees were almost touching. Troy's eyes darted between her lips and her eyes begging for permission. She didn't move and he slowly started to lean forward. Gabriella was experiencing several different emotions, she wanted Troy to kiss her yet she didn't want him to kiss her because he was player. First it would start off with an innocent kiss then something more then next she would find herself broken and alone while Troy moved on to his next girl. Her mind was telling her to turn away but her body was refusing to answer and in less than a second she would be experiencing her first kiss and with none other than Troy Bolton. _Don't do it, Gabriella!_ A voice in her head warned but she didn't listen. By now she could feel his warm breath spilling onto her lips as her eyelids fluttered and shut. This was it.

Their lips just barely touched when Troy's cell phone began beeping loudly. They both jumped apart as Troy searched around frantically for his cell phone. He finally found it and pulled the device out of his book bag. He looked at the screen and swore; swearing at the same time grabbing his things and stuffing them into his bag. Gabriella hadn't moved she just sat there watching him, startled, embarrassed and shaken.

"Are you okay?" she managed after a few moments. He didn't reply and just continued gathering his things. He rushed to the front door with Gabriella following closely behind. "Troy? Are you okay?" she repeated as he tore out of the door. He stopped and turned, "y-yeah" he stammered, "I'm sorry. I have to go but err thanks for all your help and all and I, um really a-appreciate it." His words were so rushed they barely made any sense. As he looked up, understanding washed over Gabriella when she noticed the fear in his eyes. She had never seen fear like that before and she herself felt scared; scared for Troy.

"Good luck." She whispered quietly to him, unsure of whether he heard her. He said nothing as he climbed into his truck and drove out of the Montez's driveway just as Ms. Montez was stepping out of her car. She watched the old truck disappear around the street before climbing up the steps to the front door where her daughter stood, unmoving.

"Who was that?" the older Montez asked without a "hello".

Gabriella snapped out of her trance and looked at her mother, "Oh, um a err friend." She managed to say.

"A guy friend?"

"Yeah." Gabriella replied unsurely, playing with her fingers.

"Uh huh." Something about the way her mother spoke made Gabriella certain that their conversation was far from over and the two quietly entered the silent house.

***

Gabriella had finished cleaning up her and Troy's mess in the living room after a long lecture from her mother about cleanliness and was now in her room, reading.

Just as she had suspected, about thirty minutes later Maria Montez knocked on her only daughter's bedroom door. Gabriella sighed and let the book she was reading drop onto the floor as she called her mother in. Maria walked in and took a seat on Gabriella's bed and turned to face her, "so tell me more about this 'guy friend' of yours." Gabriella blushed and buried her face in her pillow.

"There isn't anything to tell." She said her voice muffled.

"Of course there is, honey."

"A friend and nothing else." _A friend? Psh, since when is Troy Bolton a friend?_ She thought.

"Okay." Maria paused and carefully watched her daughter. She had noticed a change in her lately, but had taken it as just "the teenage behavior" but now she was sure it had to do with this "guy friend" guy. "So what's his name?" she asked simply.

"Troy Bolton." The way Gabriella spoke his name made Maria believe that Gabriella thought of him as something other than a "friend".

"Hmm, so is there anything I need to know about him?"

Gabriella shook her head blushing like an idiot. She really did not want to discuss Troy with her mom. "There isn't much to say about him. Um, he's captain of the basketball team at school, he's in my homeroom, we have a few classes together and I think I have a little crush on him." She blurted. Maria let out a sound between a high pitched squeal and a cough.

"So you do like him!" she sounded like a teenage girl finally meeting her favorite rock band, "_mija_, he could be your first boyfriend!"

Gabriella sat up and brought her legs underneath her, "he isn't the 'boyfriend' type." She sighed, "and I don't think he likes me in that way" Maria smiled at Gabriella's exasperated expression; she leaned forward and gently stroked her daughter's knee.

"You never know. He might feel a lot stronger about you than you do about him." Gabriella snorted at her mother's words, "yeah in what world?" she muttered sarcastically, completely ignoring the small bubble of hope growing within her body.

"Come on, bedtime." Maria said, hitting her daughter's knee playfully as she got off the bed.

"Mom, I'm sixteen not six!" Gabriella grumbled putting on her famous pout as she pulled at the sheets.

"Sixteen or sixty, you're still my little girl." She said tucking Gabriella in and placing a kiss her daughter's forehead and she left the room but not before turning the light off.

Gabriella lay in the dark and stared at the ceiling, "I like Troy Bolton and I nearly had my first kiss with him. Wow." And she closed her eyes.


	11. Monster to protector

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait. Here's chapter 11, enjoy…**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 11 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

Dead: No longer alive.

That's what Troy was, well would be in a few minutes, dead.

As he reached for the lowest branch he could find of the tall tree right outside his window he knew there was absolutely no way he could survive the beatings he knew were soon to come. He hoisted himself through his bedroom window, the same one he had "forgotten" to close earlier and stood there silently in the dark trying to regulate the thumping of his heart.

He slipped his shoes and socks off and cautiously tiptoed to his bedroom door. He opened it just a crack and peered down the hallway; the light was on, the T.V. was blaring and there was a strong smell of alcohol mixed with tobacco coming from downstairs. But what made Troy sigh in relief was the loud distinctive snoring.

As Troy lay in bed that night, he found it quite difficult to sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes he could still see Gabriella's lips, pink, plump and wet and just the thought of them made him wet his own lips and also thinking of what would have happened if his cell phone hadn't beeped, reminding him of the time. Would he be at Gabriella's right now? Probably not, seeing as her mom was there. But would they have become closer? No, he wasn't a relationship type of guy and he didn't think she was either. He opened his eyes and rolled over and smothered his face against his pillow. Even with his eyes open he could still see those sultry pink lips as well as her darkened eyes daring him to do what they both wanted, something he'd been too chicken to do ever since he met her.

As he rolled over, he could just picture a certain brunette lying next to him, his arms wrapped tightly around her and her tiny fingers playing with his hair whilst he kissed every part of her body he could reach without losing the feeling of her hands in his hair.

He let out another groan as he tried to get rid of the image. He didn't care how beautiful or how much attracted he was to her, he wanted nothing to do with her; all she seemed to be doing was completely messing up his life and his head.

***

_It was the same angel. He could recognize the dark curls, the elegant cream dress and the same feeling of safety and love he experienced whenever she was around. But this time the scene was different._

_Instead of the soft silvery sand, there were dark patches of grass here and there. He could hear the sound of the oceans waves far down below which made him realize that they were on a cliff, somewhere. The angel walked forward, slowly and gracefully her head bowed and her hands holding the long dress up at her hips. She stopped right in front of him before raising her head._

_They both stood in silence just staring at each other. _

_After what felt like hours of silent analyzing, Gabriella sighed. She reached up and sweetly cupped the side of Troy's face, caressing the skin just below his eye with her thumb. Troy felt his eyes close and he relaxed into her touch._

"_I will help you." She said softly. Troy felt his body lock and his eyes fly open. He shoved her away from him and took several steps back._

"_You're not my guardian angel or my savior!" he hissed venomously. It broke his heart to see her cower in fear. "You're nothing to me, just an annoying pest in my life!" he continued. He had to get away from her, just seeing the tears dripping slowly down her face made him want to take back everything he said and hold her tightly in his arms. "Just leave me alone." He muttered and turned away, refusing to let himself believe that for once he felt like crying in front of someone._

"_I know I'm not any of those things," Gabriella fought back, "but I just want to help you." Her tone softened and so did her face. Troy turned,_

"_No you don't, you just want to feel good about yourself for doing something 'nice'!" he snapped taking slow firm steps closer to her. Gabriella stood her ground._

"_You can say whatever you want to say. I don't care; all I care about is your safety."_

_Troy scoffed, "and why do you?"_

_Gabriella closed her eyes and thought about what to say. After a while she reopened them and looked Troy straight in the eye. "Because I know you're different and this isn't the real you." _

_And she vanished just like that, leaving Troy alone and sad._

***

"So you had the same dream about that chick?" Chad repeated tossing the basketball to Troy. They were in the park, around mid afternoon goofing around with a couple of basketballs on the public court.

Troy muttered an inaudible reply and took a shoot watching as the ball sailed almost perfectly through the torn net. "Well was she hot?" Chad asked.

"Is that all you ever look for in a girl?" Troy snapped angrily. Chad held his hands up in a defensive pose.

"Just asking man." He mumbled. He watched Troy carefully before asking "was she?"

"More like beautiful" he admitted. Closing his eyes and smiled when he saw Gabriella's face pop up. He began describing her to Chad; from the dark brown tendrils to the soft mocha eyes.

"Dude, you really like this chick." Chad cut in feeling slightly uncomfortable with Troy sharing his feelings with him, something he was sure would never happen again. "Too bad she doesn't exist."

"Yeah she does." Troy said before he could stop himself. He paused and stared at the ground in front of him, "G*d I sound like a freaking girl!" he moaned dropping onto the hard pavement and letting his head fall into his hands. Chad snickered, "yeah you do. If she does exist then why aren't you with her? And who the hell is she?"

Troy dropped his hands and looked up at Chad. He couldn't tell him; there was no way he could tell his best friend that he had a secret crush on Gabriella Montez, vice president of the dorks crew and at the moment number one on Chad's "to destroy" list. He looked away and shook his head. Chad was about to beg when they heard a loud "thump" followed by a series of hushed swearing.

***

Gabriella had chosen the wrong day to go for a jog as she would realize later.

She jogged down the side walk to the deserted park she'd come across a few times on her way to school. She walked through the rusted iron gate hanging off its hinges and tried to follow the winding path hardly visible underneath the wild grass brambles and other creepers but somehow she managed thankful that she had decided to wear long tracksuit pants. When she had finally made her way through the knee length forest, she decided to explore.

She found a bench, worn and old covered in prickly thorns, a pond that was surprisingly and aqua color with ducks and other pond creatures, but what surprised her most was the sound of several bouncing basketballs and the sound of voices and laughter. Curious she began walking towards the noise.

"…was she?" she recognized the voice as Troy Bolton's curly haired friend whose name she didn't know but rhymed with "had". She stepped over a large rock and hid behind the largest and closest tree to the court. She peered through. Troy had his back to her and the guy whose name rhymed with "had" was holding a ball under his arm, smiling and watching Troy.

"More like beautiful." She heard Troy say. She frowned as she listened to Troy's description of some girl. She was actually shocked for many reasons:

The mysterious girl didn't sound like one of those nameless sluts he usually slept with

He sounded as though he was in love. Almost.

And the way he talked about the girl and his feelings toward her was just…un-Troy-like.

His words completely popped the hope bubble, which had been growing bit by bit each day, in Gabriella's heart.

"Dude, you really like this chick." The curly haired boy interrupted. He looked uncomfortable from the way his face tightened. "Too bad she doesn't exist."

"Yeah she does." Troy said. There was silence, then Troy moaned "G*d! I sound like a freaking girl!" and he dropped to the pavement with his head in his hands.

Afro boy snickered, "yeah you do. If she does exist then why aren't you with her? And who the hell is she?" Troy looked up at him but stayed silent maybe thinking whether to tell or not.

Gabriella backed away she didn't want to know who Troy was crushing on; it would have an effect on her, a bad one that she really didn't want.

She missed the rock, too busy scolding herself for feeling the way she did; she slammed her heel against the large rock and fell.

"Shit." She hissed as her back came into contact with the hard ground.

In the basketball court both Troy and Chad froze at the noise. They looked at each other both thinking the same thing before rushing out to investigate. Chad let out a purposefully loud laugh at the sight of Gabriella Montez on the ground harshly rubbing her ankle. He still hadn't forgotten about his first encounter with her in the school hallway; how could he? No geek had ever stood up to him—except Taylor Mckessie and Sharpay-what's-her-face, but they didn't count; Sharpay was too popular and well known be put in the geek category and Taylor…well Taylor was Taylor, she could fit almost anywhere, even the with the cheerleaders, only she considered the ones at East High to be stuck up snobs who weren't able to think for themselves—until Gabriella and he wasn't very pleased with that so he refused to let it go without a fight. "Look what the trash dragged in…more trash!" Chad sneered laughing at his own joke.

Gabriella hadn't seemed to notice Chad's existence, her eyes only sought out one person, Troy. He was standing a little way behind Chad. He had his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets and was glowering at Gabriella with all the distaste he could muster. Gabriella felt her heart break. She had expected him to at least treat her like a friend after what had almost happened in her living room, but she was wrong about him yet again.

Chad walked closer to her oblivious to the stares between his friend and his prey. "Where's it going to be, nerd?" Chad snarled. He reached down and grabbed Gabriella roughly by her upper arm and hoisted her up. Neither of them noticed how Troy's face twisted in anger at Chad's action, or the warning step he took. Chad just continued talking, "I for one am new to this, so I don't know." His grip on her arm tightened and Gabriella let out a low whimper causing Troy to take another step forward and his hands to curl into tight fists. "See, I've really hit a girl but you have forced me into doing it and—."

"Gosh, just shut up and do it already. I'd rather be unconscious than listen to you!" Gabriella growled. It surprised both her and the boys; neither of them knew where that sudden burst of courage came from. She looked over at Troy and noticed that his shadowed eyes had brightened up a little and his lips twitch a little upwards. Chad's smug smile dropped and he squeezed her arm even tighter signaling to her that she had just said the wrong thing. He muttered something that sounded like "fucking bitch" and shook her harshly. As he pulled back his arm to hit her, something in Troy snapped. He hurled forward and grabbed Chad's arm in grip of steel. He ripped Gabriella from Chad's grip and pushed her behind him in a manner that would have been considered protective if Troy wasn't the one holding her.

Troy scowled at his friend, "you're not supposed to hit girls!" he snapped still holding Gabriella in a "protective" manner, "Like I said before, she isn't worth it." He dropped Gabriella's arm and without even looking at her he stalked off followed by Chad, who looked as though he'd been hit by a bus being driven by a llama.

Gabriella smiled (despite the fact that she couldn't feel the arm Chad hadn't been merciless with) once the two had disappeared, _Troy stood up for me again!_

***

Troy didn't know exactly why he was standing outside this very balcony, but he was and he was a complete wreak. He anxiously wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans and repeatedly took in deep mouthfuls of air. A few seconds ago he had attempted to flatten his hair, but that proved to be impossible. Troy had no idea how long he had been standing outside on Gabriella's balcony, rehearsing what he planned to say to her. More than twice he had thought about leaving and forgetting that he had ever been there, but he decided against it; he wanted, correction, needed to see her for reasons he still didn't know of.

He squinted as he tried to look through the glass and into the dark room. He sighed she still hadn't come up. He closed his eyes and leaned against the railing letting the cold night air fan his face.

How had he known which room was hers? Answer: it wasn't his first time at this house. He stood on the very spot he stood on at that a moment of a lot of times before, watching Gabriella sleep, and nothing more, and every time she moved or murmured in her sleep, his heart rate would accelerate and he would lean forward to get a better view. A few times her shirt would rise a little, giving his a little sneak peek at her stomach and other parts of her body, but whenever he caught himself staring he would always feel guilty for invading her privacy and leave.

Just as he had finally decided to leave the door to her bedroom opened, the lights flicked on and Gabriella walked in, balancing several books in one hand and a glass of what looked like chocolate milk in the other. She had just managed to drop the books on her bed and the glass of milk on her bedside table when she noticed someone standing on her balcony. The first thing she noticed about the person were the vibrant blue eyes.

She didn't gasp or jump in fright but walked to the door and opened it.

Stepping out she asked, "What are doing here?" she hadn't meant to sound rude or suspicious but somehow it came out that way.

Troy shoved his hands back into his pockets and looked down at his sneakers, finding them a lot more unnerving to stare at than her face. "I um actually came here to…" he paused and looked up at her face. Staring into her curious mocha eyes, he felt the words roll freely off his dry tongue, "…to apologize for what happened earlier in the park." Gabriella's eyebrows raised of their own accord as Troy continued, "I mean, I know Chad can be a pain and all but what he tried to do today, to you I mean, was a little over done, and…" he trailed off. He had just noticed what she was wearing, which was barely anything. His eyes wandered to her cleavage which was very visible beneath the thin low cut tank top she wore, then down to her legs. He could see a lot of flesh seeing as she only wore a pair of blue shorts that could _almost _pass as underwear.

Feeling his eyes on her body, Gabriella blushed and folded her arms across her chest to block his view "it's okay" she mumbled "I'm used to it."

Troy nodded. A thought popped into his head, "do you want a ride to school tomorrow…with me?" he asked. His eyes began to roam her body as his mind was yet again clouded with not-very-nice thoughts about Gabriella. She blushed and nodded.

"I'd like that." She whispered rubbing her arms from the cold. Troy looked at her arm just below her armpit. Chad's mark was definitely there and definitely visible. He felt bad, "again, I'm sorry about Chad and what happened today."

"It's alright, I'm still here aren't I?" she joked. Troy smiled a very faint one. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." He nodded removing his hands from his pocket, "goodnight."

"Goodnight, Troy."

Troy waited until she had walked back into her room before leaving the same way he had come, only with high hopes for the next day.

**ZANESSASSENAZ**

**A/N: There it is! Hope you liked it. But you can show that you did, if you did, by reviewing, or if you didn't, still review! Have a great weekend, everybody!**


	12. One touch

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, they're awesome. I won't think I'll be able to update for a while after this chapter. Enjoy… **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 12 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

Troy arrived _very _early at Gabriella's the next day, having been unable to sleep since a little after three, then spent about two hours thinking about the day waiting up ahead especially the part where he would be picking Gabriella up, which forced him to get out of bed. It took him over an hour to finally decide on what to wear. As he analyzed his appearance in his mirror he immediately began to pick out flaws; he decided that his pants were a little too low, his hair way too spiky and his shirt way too rumpled. He attempted to bring his hair back to its usual style only a little less messy; he traveled to the back of his closet and dug into all the useless junk there and managed to find a belt he'd had since he was fourteen, thankfully, it still fit him. He looked down at his shirt and groaned; there was nothing he could do about that one.

As quietly as he could, Troy managed to sneak out of the house, which proved to be difficult since it was so quiet that if he dropped a pin, it could shake the whole house. He made it to Gabriella's, without a scratch or a bruise, apart for the ones he already had. As he sat in his car with the radio on so low he himself could barely hear it, he tried to come up with casual conversations with Gabriella. He couldn't help but feel relieved; all the girls' he'd ever been with took nearly two whole hours just to get ready and that was just the clothes, hair came up to over an hour, so he expected Gabriella to take a while to get ready, so he leaned back against his seat and continued conjuring up conversations with "Gabriella".

He had just started conversation number one when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from his right. He turned and saw Gabriella rushing down the steps, carrying a couple of books and an apple.

"Hey!" she greeted him and at the same time endeavoring to climb into his truck. When she finally succeeded she threw her head against the head rest and blew several strands of her hair out of her face before she finally faced him a small smile gracing her delicate features. "You came early" she commented staring at his face as if his eyes could give her answers. Troy shrugged and started the car then faced her. His eyes were so blue, so vulnerable, so hurt and intense that Gabriella had to look away. Troy sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "yeah, I just had to get out of there." He finally said shifting his eyes and staring out of the window. Gabriella felt her heart shatter into a million tiny pieces when she turned to look at him. His eyes were shut firmly and his head thrown back against the head at the same time breathing deeply through his nose and clenching and unclenching his hands.

He needed comfort but she didn't know exactly how to give it to him, so she did something she always saw people do on T.V.

She reached for one of his fists, unfurled it and held his hand in hers; skin to skin contact. As their skin touched, Gabriella felt something quite similar to the first time she'd touched Troy only this time it was a whole lot stronger. When she touched him she immediately felt like she knew everything she needed to know about him, she what he liked and disliked, his fears. Then he looked at her. She had never realized how blue and intense his eyes were until that moment; they were somehow connected in a way that neither could describe. They stared at each other; brown and blue, feelings running through their bodies from their connected hands, until Troy decided to end the moment by pulling his hand away from hers and moving away from her in his seat. Gabriella watched him, as he pulled out of the street, in silence, feeling stupid and humiliated. She had no idea that touching Troy would have an effect that big on both of them.

Troy hadn't actually meant to snatch his hand back that raucously. It was the huge effect that that simple touch had on him that made him do so. He felt as though when she touched, that he could tell her anything, his feelings, and his fears anything that he wouldn't have told anyone, even Chad and it scared him. It was a change and Troy hated change.

As they neared East High, Gabriella turned to look at Troy once more, but he still had his eyes fixed on the road and nowhere else. Troy parked in a vacant spot. Because of how early in the morning it was, the school's parking lot was fully empty so as Gabriella stepped out o the vehicle she wasn't met with dagger eyes or curious stares. As she stepped away from the vehicle, she knew that this would be the last time Troy would ever give her a ride or so much as look at her. The moment the two of them would walk through the doors of East High School he wouldn't want anything to do with her, but still she was grateful for the ride even though it didn't turn out how either had expected.

Just one touch and everything changed. Who knew?

Gabriella stood by the car fidgeting with her fingers as she waited for Troy to collect his things from the car. When he did she looked at him with what she hoped was a nonchalant stare, "um thanks for the ride." She mumbled. When he didn't say anything she decided to end it, "I guess I'll see you around." And with that she began walking away, praying he would call her back and offer to walk her to class. But he didn't say anything just watched her walk away at the same time trying to assure himself that she couldn't give him what he wanted, even though a small part of him knew that all he wanted was her.

***

"I heard a little rumor that you and Troy Bolton have been pretty close lately? Anything I should know about?"

The moment Gabriella took her seat at the back of Ms. Darbus' class a few minutes after leaving Troy in the parking lot she was promptly cornered by Taylor, Sharpay and a lot of inquisitive stares from all those present in the room.

Gabriella groaned at Taylor's question and rested her sweltering forehead against the gelid wood of her desk. She was mad at Troy because he hadn't offered to walk her to class and because he was the reason she had been the center of attention all morning!

"Seriously Gabby" Sharpay spoke in an angry whisper "you shouldn't get involved with a guy like him. He's bad news."

Gabriella lifted her head from her desk to tell Sharpay that Troy wasn't all "bad news" but had to squint to see her friend through all the pink and glitter heaped onto the tiny piece of material called a top. Even though she had known the blonde for over a month now she still couldn't stand her taste. Sharpay was dressed in a bubble gum pink halter top, hoarded with glitter, chalky white jean skirt and of course five inch heels pink and complete with glitter. Gabriella looked down at her own plain clothes, and over sized tee shirt, with the sleeves bunched up at her elbows, which had a picture of an eagle and below read "FOOTHILL" in huge black letters, hanging loosely over a pair of faded baggy jeans and to complete with, a pair of old looking sneakers that really needed to be disposed of, then she finally looked at Taylor's casual yet formal attire; three quarter sleeved striped turquoise collared shirt with the top three buttons undone to reveal a light pink tank top, a pair of ankle length jeans with the ends cuffed and matching pale pink pumps.

All three had a very different fashion sense, very different.

_Maybe if I changed my style a little, maybe mix it with a little Taylor and Sharpay style, Troy would like me in that way! What am I thinking?!_ Gabriella thought.

"I really don't need this right now, I'm trying to think things through!" she mumbled letting her head fall into the cushion provided by her arms. She felt a light hand rest on her shoulder.

"Whenever you want to talk, Tay and I are here." Sharpay said in a soft tone, and they returned to their seats just as the bell rang.

Ms. Darbus stood from her throne like chair adjusted her silvery feather like shawls and clapped her hands in a commanding manner. "Alright everyone, settle down!" she screeched waving her arms dramatically. A few students laughed as everyone took their seats.

As Ms. Darbus enlightened the class with one of her morning speeches, Gabriella raised her head and searched the room for Troy. He was nowhere in sight. She noticed Chad sitting in the front seat with several other members of the basketball team, but there was no Troy. There were only two things she had a feeling that he was doing. Either he was with his dad or he was probably making out with some girl in the supplies closet. A part of her hoped that it was option number one; she couldn't Troy being with another girl that wasn't her. Just as the thought left her mind, Troy showed up at the door, of course, with a girl. She looked like a freshman; wavy yellow blonde hair, striking blue eyes, and added a light bounce to every step she took, definitely an over excited freshman. She clung desperately to Troy's arm, giggling at every little thing. Gabriella nearly found herself laughing due to the girl's infectious laugh. Several other people laughed but with one hard glare from Troy they stopped and turned away. Troy pushed the girl away from him and stalked into the class, completely ignoring her as she waved to him in a flirty manner.

"Mr. Bolton, late again I see." Ms. Darbus commented fixing Troy with a harsh glare of disgust. Troy just shrugged and stood by the door waiting impatiently for the old hag to give him a detention. "Do you have an excuse this time?" she barked.

"No." he muttered staring back at her with the same look of distaste. Ms Darbus tutted and shook her head, "Detention, after school in the theater." She snapped and made her way back to the front of the class. As Troy began walking towards the only vacant seat in the class—which just so happened to be right behind Gabriella—his eyes locked with hers, the coldness of his glare sending chills down her spine, in a way that seemed to say "this is all your fault" but Gabriella didn't understand how it was all her fault. She pushed her chair closer to her desk and farther away from the one behind her and hunched her shoulders as she could feel his cold gaze drilling holes into the back of her head.

But fortunately for her, Troy didn't so much as breathe on her all through homeroom, all he did was stare at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

***

Neither Taylor nor Sharpay stuck to their "whenever you want to talk we're here" behavior. During World History class, Taylor kept passing Gabriella notes demanding to know what was going on between her and Troy, the in Drama class, Sharpay made sure she got a job close to where Gabriella was and literally went on her knees—something very on Sharpay, aka Ice Queen, like—and begged Gabriella to tell her, in AP Chemistry, the note passing from Taylor continued, but Gabriella barely looked through them; her eyes sought out the one person who for some reason unknown to her was not in class. Lunch was even worse; their questioning resulted in Gabriella spilling her orange soda all over the front of her shirt, and had to wear one of Sharpay's bright pink tops, which showed off part of her stomach and a lot of chest and also led to her being stared down by practically the entire student male population of East High.

By the end of school, Gabriella was one step closer to ripping out all her hair and stuffing fistfuls into both Sharpay and Taylor's mouths. They cornered her in the girls' changing room right after P.E. and finally managed to get her to tell.

She told them about how Troy was giving her rides, about how she had helped him with his algebra homework in her living room, about how they almost kissed, about her encounter in the park with Chad and Troy, and also when Troy had showed up on her balcony and apologized for Chad's behavior. By the time she had finished, both Taylor and Sharpay looked like one if those wax statues in Madame Tussauds, one with a wide smile and bright pink lipstick and the other with a shocked expression and looked as though with one push she would fall and pass out. Gabriella made up a lame excuse of having to get home early because her mom wanted to talk to her. She hurried out of the gym and dashed out of the school, glad to be away from Taylor, who would probably strangle Gabriella once she remembered how to move and Sharpay, who just had a weird goofy smile on her face. Minutes later she found herself standing by Troy's truck, careful not to touch it worried she might somehow set it off. She looked around the parking lot; Troy's car was the only one there that belonged to a student, other than Sharpay's car.

Standing by Troy's car, Gabriella realized how much of a fool she was. Just because Troy offered to drive her to school didn't mean that he would offer to drive her back! Did it? But after standing there for some time she remembered that he had gotten a detention from Darbus, but it was so unlike Troy to actually go to detention, so she didn't expect o find him in the school theater. _The Gym!_ She thought _that's where he mostly is!_

She took a different route to the gym, a route where if she was lucky she wouldn't have to run into her friends'.

She found Troy in the gym, but she didn't find him working on free throws like she expected, neither did she find him with his father, but instead, she found him in the bleachers making out with a girl; a girl who didn't seem to mind where Troy's hand was, a girl who didn't seem to care that Troy had a black eye, a girl that didn't seem bothered by the fact that the next day, Troy Bolton would completely forget about her and move on the next girl, a girl who wasn't Gabriella. Gabriella felt tears form on the corners of her eyes. When Troy had apologized to her the night before on her balcony, she had believed that he had changed, for the better but again she was wrong. As the girl's moans filled the gym, Gabriella turned on her heel, feeling as though a thousand iron fingers were clawing mercilessly at her heart, trying to tug it out from the safe haven provided by her ribs, and left, making sure to slam the iron doors as hard as she could. As she walked, breathing became a burden; each breath she took got stuck in her throat, and finally the wet salty tears began their descent down her flushed face.

She ran to the parking lot; Sharpay's car was gone.

So she began running, not toward her house, but to somewhere else, somewhere she knew she no one would disturb her, if she was lucky.

Troy knew she was there.

He could feel her presence. But he didn't want her there so he pretended as if he couldn't see her. But upon hearing the slam of the gym doors the girl in front of him pulled away and turned to the doors.

"Was someone here?" she asked, biting her lip in a way that was similar to Gabriella's but different in so many ways. Troy nearly screamed in frustration when Gabriella entered his mind. She was one of the reasons why he was with various different girls, to forget about her. To forget all the wonderful feelings she evoked in him whenever she was around, and now here he was, comparing this girl to Gabriella even though deep inside he knew no girl could ever compare to Gabriella, the first girl to ever deny him, the first girl he'd ever shown his true self to, the girl he now knew was crying somewhere because of him and it took every ounce of his self control not to go after her and comfort her.

"Troysie? Are you okay?" the raven haired girl asked, running her fingers down Troy's bare arm, in a way she thought was seductive but just made Troy want to puke. Troy closed his eyes and pushed all thoughts of Gabriella out of his head before nodding, even though he knew he wasn't, but the girl didn't care, all she cared about was the satisfaction of going around the school and saying she had sex with Troy Bolton, that's all they cared about.

**ZANESSASSENAZ**

**A/N: What do you think? Express your thoughts in a good old review, with a nice cherry on the top. XD**


	13. Heated gym

**A/N: Enjoy, and the reviews, alerts and favorites…keep 'em coming guys! **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 13 – Welcome to my life**

**_Do you ever feel like breaking down?_**

**_Do you ever feel out of place?_**

**_Like somehow you just don't belong_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_Do you ever want to run away?_**

**_Do you lock yourself in your room?_**

**_With the radio on turned up so loud_**

**_That no one hears you screaming_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_When nothing feels alright_**

**_You don't know what it's like_**

**_To be like me_**

**_To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark_**

**_To be kicked, when you're down_**

**_And feel like you've been pushed around_**

**_To be on the edge of breaking down,_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_WELCOME TO MY LIFE!_**

For a whole week, both Troy and Gabriella stayed clear from each other; though there was the occasional awkward glance, glare on Gabriella's part.

For that particular week Troy had no idea what to do with himself. Things with his father had gotten a lot worse, seeing as there was no Gabriella Montez to cheer him up and make him forget his pain, and he used that as an excuse for his strange behavior towards Gabriella. He wanted to be with her,—like "just friends'"—but he couldn't; she was just too innocent and distracting. He was hardly able to get her off his mind. His usual hookups had decreased drastically because of her, so instead of six different girls each day, he was down to one and a half.

He couldn't stop thinking about her; her laugh, her giggle, the way her faced brightened whenever she was talking about something she loved; the way her lips puckered when she was concentrating hard, making him want to just press his own lips against hers.

She was driving him slowly and painfully towards the path of madness.

Every time any girl did something, anything, he would subconsciously find himself comparing her to Gabriella.

And because of that he started becoming distant, especially with Chad, who still had a feeling that there was something between Troy and Gabriella that his friend wasn't telling him about. He started watching Troy a lot closer, especially when Gabriella was around.

HSM

Gabriella was bored beyond belief.

She sat in the back of the chemistry lab, thinking off random things like how a quarter of the bones in your body are in your feet or how rhythm is the longest English word without a vowel and even disgusting things, like how most dust particles in houses are actually made from dead skin!

But even those didn't seem to be able to pull her out of her boredom. She watched silently, from where she sat, as a tall lanky boy with a thousand freckles on his pale face, neck and all other parts visible and flame red hair, argued with a chocolate colored girl with spiky black hair cut down to the bottom of her ears. She wasn't really paying attention to the two, instead her eyes scoped out the group for her friend. She spotted Taylor in the back discussing some things with the co-captain of the Decathlon team. She groaned and leaned further down in her seat. She always thought that being with people that were as smarter or even smarter than her would be exciting but at that moment she was so bored that she had been driven to counting the number of water puddles on the pavement outside on the front of the school, which mind you were over fifty four, seeing as it had rained during the night.

_You know what?_ A voice in her head suddenly exclaimed, "Fuck this." The brunette found herself muttering out loud. She snuck the students and managed to sneak out of the doors without making barely a sound.

The school looked enormous without all the cluster of students loitering around and yelling at the tops of their voices, to be honest it caused a chill to run down Gabriella's spine at the emptiness; she'd never really seen the school like this before and in truth it reawakened her adventurous side. She began walking through the silent school, noticing things she'd never seen before. She was at ease…that was until her feet somehow led her to the school's gym.

HSM

He was sweaty and tired.

After two long hours of non-stop practicing Troy felt like taking a long ice cold shower. He leaned against the bleachers next to Chad who was watching him with hawk-like eyes. Troy ignored his friend and raised his bottle to his lips. The water had barely touched his parched lips when Chad spoke, loud and clear right by his ear.

"So, you banged the nerd yet?" Troy jumped and spilled a bit of the water on his shirt. He cussed loudly and sent a cold glare in Chad's direction.

"Fuck off." He hissed through clenched teeth. Chad seemed to get the message for he turned away and attempted to start a useless conversation with Zeke Baylor. Troy's eyes turned to the door and that was when he saw it; the startled mocha eyes nearly hidden beneath the thick lashes and the dark tresses fanning her olive face. He felt his lips jerk upwards as their eyes locked and the world stood still. But as quickly as it began it ended when Gabriella turned away and disappeared behind the metal doors.

"Fuck her." He snapped, and pushed off the bleachers and made his way angrily to the locker rooms. Chad, Zeke and a few other basketball players watched their captain stalk away angrily wondering what had gotten to him, but only Chad knew.

Troy had just walked out of the locker rooms—first to go in and last to come out—to find the court empty, except for one petite brunette standing in the center of the court playing with a basketball. He felt his lips twitch; it was an image he wanted to keep locked in his head forever.

HSM

Gabriella stood in the center of the basketball court, rolling the orange ball pointlessly with her hands and wondering what to do with it. After locking eyes with Troy, she had felt embarrassed so she hastily left the gym and returned to her exploring only to wind up in the gym minutes later to find it empty. Curiosity led her to pick up a ball and attempt to get it through the basket, but it she had so far missed all.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me."

The voice that had plagued her dreams for months now echoed in the silent gymnasium. Troy walked past her and picked the ball up that had stopped rolling away.

"I could say the same thing to you." She snapped back, watching him closely; but he just gave her a crooked smirk that just barely reached his empty eyes. "What?"

Troy shook his head and began taking slow steps towards her, which reminded Gabriella of the way the bad guys usually walk towards their victim in the movies, so she took a couple of steps back. Troy stared at the girl who was looking up at him through her thick lashes, in the shy little school girl way. Without warning or hesitation, Troy grabbed her arm and spun her around so her back was just centimeters from his front.

"What the…?" she managed just before Troy shoved the ball in her hands and took a few steps away from the dazzling Latina that was turning his brain to mush.

"Here, I'll show you how to make a basket." He offered. The brunette stared back at him, in shock and confusion. "Huh?" was all that came out of her mouth; she felt faint but all the same held the ball in the same way she did whenever she was about to make a shot. "No, hold it like this." He coached, standing beside her with his hands in front of his face as if holding an imaginary ball. She was dreaming. Why else would Troy Bolton be wasting his time showing her how to make a proper basket when he could be doing whatever with other girls? "Try it." His soft voice filled her ears. She silently tried mimicking what he had done previously but realized it wasn't right when she heard him start laughing behind her; like actually laughing. She jumped when she felt his hard front brush against her back and his large rough hands cover hers and sandwich them against the ball. Her heart continued hammering mercilessly against her ribs as the familiar electric sparks shot through her body at the contact.

She had read enough romance books to know what _that _meant: she was attracted to him; but she didn't want to be.

She closed her eyes as the electric sparks traveled through her veins and into the pumping organ beneath her ribs, the same organ that felt like it would burst at any second. Unknown to her, Troy was going through the same thing.

"Hold it like this." He whispered, noticing her shiver involuntarily as his warm breath blew across the back of her neck. He changed the wrong position of her hands to the correct one. "Open your fingers slightly." He murmured, using his fingers to spread hers. "Bend your knees a little." His hands slithered down her shoulders to her covered hips, leaving a trail of fire behind. Gabriella swallowed loudly as he gave her hips a small squeeze and pushed them down a bit, "aim and keep your eyes on the net." Aiming and concentrating proved to be difficult with Troy standing behind her with his front pressed against her back and his hands holding her hips firmly. "Concentrate. Get ready to jump." A strangled gasp found its way out of Gabriella's lips when he whispered the words so close to her ear she felt his moist lips brush her earlobe, "Relax…" he gave her hips one last squeeze before dropping his hands and stepping away causing a wave of coldness to wash over both of them, "shoot." She barely heard him, and the moment the ball left her fingers and soared towards the hoop, she was certain that this time it would be better.

And it was.

The ball slid neatly through the hoop, not even touching the ring. It bounced a few times on the ground before rolling away. Gabriella's face lit up, she beamed proudly and turned to face Troy, who too seemed to be smiling; a real smile too.

"That was really good." He said quietly as he went for the ball that was still rolling away. Gabriella blushed and awkwardly looked down at her feet, "that was really good." Troy repeated, returning with the ball tucked underneath his arm and small smile plastered across his face.

"Thanks."

By now Troy was close enough to just bend his head and touch his lips to hers, but he didn't. He knew that she was still probably angry at him for ditching her that day, so he kept his hands to himself and let his eyes do the job. Feeling discomfort from the way Troy was looking at her so intensely, Gabriella pushed her hair behind her ear and started thinking of ways to start a conversation so he would just stop staring at her. Before she could speak, he did,

"You're different. You know that?" she stammered a no. She raised her head to look up at him and felt her heart falter in her chest as her mocha eyes locked with the navy lust-filled ones. Without thinking, Troy raised his hand to her cheek. She flinched but leaned into his touch. He caressed her cheek softly before trailing his hot fingers along her jaw to her neck before slithering through her dark waves. Both their eyes closed and they sighed simultaneously. Troy couldn't believe it: after over a month of wanting to just run his fingers through her soft locks, here he was, actually doing it!

He carefully cupped the back of her head and raised it to meet his. His breathing came out in short gasps at the sight of her closed eyes and the plump pink lips that were slightly parted, anxiously waiting for him to claim them as his. His tongue darted out to moisten his parched lips; all he wanted to do was swoop down and cover her lips with his, make her whisper his name softly into his ear in ecstasy and tell him he was the only one for her; but right at that moment, all he wanted to do was taste her.

But he couldn't. It took all of his self control not to. Instead, he dropped his hand from her body and ran, like a coward.

Gabriella was in heaven.

The feel of Troy Bolton's hand running through her hair and his lips just centimeters from hers was enough to send her to cloud nine. She could feel his fingers massaging her scalp and his uneven breaths hitting her face. Then it all disappeared and was replaced by coldness, just like before. She opened her eyes in time to see his disappear through the back door.

He had left her, just like before. Gabriella felt tears sting her eyes and she sunk to the floor. _What makes you think you're any different? _A voice in her head sneered; _you're just like the rest of them. He doesn't give a rat's ass about you!_

"Shut up!" she heard herself sob. Unknown to her, Troy hadn't left, he stood by the door, watching the crumpled figure on the floor, hating himself for leaving her like that so he quickly pulled out his cell phone and sent her a message. He watched as the sound of loud pop music filled the silent gymnasium, causing the brunette to jump. But she didn't go for her ringing phone she only got up and left.

**A/N: Hope you liked it? Review, please and thank you; and if there are any mistakes, I apologize. **


	14. A hoodie to prove it

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, they're awesome. Enjoy… **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 14 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

LM2

"Where were you?" was the first thing Taylor asked when Gabriella practically skidded into the deserted room her face dripping slightly with water and the parts of her hair that had been unlucky enough to fall into her face when she had splashed a handful of water into her face.

"I-I'll tell you later." She panted, red faced. Taylor's dark brows rose in suspicion and she nodded. "Why are you using your moms' car?" Gabriella asked.

"Aisha is home with the flu, so my mother's with her." Taylor slid into the driver's seat and waited until she heard the soft purr of the engine before she began her questioning. "Spill."

And with that simple word, Gabriella found herself relaying everything that'd happened, from when she had left the lab, to when Troy had just left her alone in the gym. Towards the end, she had begun feeling the same emotions she had felt in the gym.

"He almost _kissed _you?" Taylor said in a very, un-Taylor-like way and gripped the steering wheel tightly in her fists and tried not to look away from the road. Unsure of what to say, Gabriella nodded stiffly. "He's got it for you bad!" the dark-skinned girl remarked looking deep in thought.

"Then why does he hate me so much?"

"He doesn't hate you" Taylor hummed more to herself than Gabriella, "I think he's scared."

Gabriella's face was priceless, "huh?"

"Gabriella," Taylor looked sideways at the baffled girl, "Have you seen the way he looks at you?" she questioned incredulously "He doesn't look at any girl like that." She paused for dramatic effect as Gabriella fidgeted uncomfortably beside her, "he has feelings for you, and I can see it in his eyes."

Gabriella was flabbergasted. Troy Bolton could not have feelings; for starters, she doubted if he even had any feelings or ever felt anything in his entire life, but as she looked back to the day when she had found out his secret, the vulnerable yet angered look in his eyes that had sent shivers down her spine, she realized that even though he had the whole nonchalant and cold façade when people were around, he was actually a hurt and confused boy trying to figure out a way to break out of the hell he called life. She closed her eyes as she remembered the way he looked at her in the gym; no guy had ever looked at her the way he had, or the way he always seemed to be able to actually talk to her, like an actual conversation. How many people can actually say that they've had a proper conversation with Troy Bolton? Not many.

"How can you tell?" she inquired once she had finally found her weak voice.

Taylor blushed and fixed her gaze on the road and chewed on her lip hard, "It's the way I look at Chad sometimes" she said, merely perceptible. Her blush deepened, "but with Troy it's stronger."

"Whoa" a satisfied smirk dilated across Gabriella's face, "dammit! I wish I'd recorded that."

Taylor flushed and stopped at a traffic light before fixing Gabriella with a stern look, "never tell anyone I ever said that, including Sharpay. Or I swear you will never live to see tomorrow!" she threatened. Gabriella tried to keep a straight face, but failed and burst out laughing at the look on Taylor's face.

"I won't, mom."

"Good."

"So how much exactly do you like him?"

Taylor sighed quietly as the car began moving, "I'm not so sure I like him." She admitted

"But you just said that you did!"

"You don't get it, do you?"

Gabriella's forehead scrunched up thoughtfully, and then realization hit her with the force of a soccer ball colliding with her skull. "Oh my G*d." she breathed, shaking her head and trying to hide the fit of excited giggles building up within her chest, "Oh my G*D!" she repeated.

"Shut up!" Taylor felt embarrassed. She had never told anyone about her feelings for the pompom-like haired guy—other than her journal—but Sharpay had guessed, though the blonde wasn't a hundred percent sure her hunch was correct. She hated the fact that she was in love with Chad Danforth, she would do absolutely anything to divert her feelings for him to any other guy, a guy that isn't so full of himself or treats women a lot worse than his own basketball.

"Tay, you should do something about it. Tell him." Gabriella offered, watching as her friend rubbed her fingers in frustration.

"This is _Danforth_ were talking about. _Hello_."

"I'm just saying, 'cause I think he likes you too."

The car stopped and Gabriella climbed out but not before hugging her friend.

"I love Chad fucking Danforth." The dark skinned girl muttered to herself and drove off.

LM2

Gabriella wasn't really much of a "movie" person, but after her mother had called to tell her she would be in Detroit for two nights, she felt like watching something to at least keep her entertained so she grabbed her comforter, her favorite pillow and a large bowl of popcorn and settled in front of the T.V.

Minutes into the movie, her cell phone blared.

"Déjà vu." She muttered under her breath whilst reaching for the device. Her words got caught in her throat as her dark eyes stared at the familiar number flashing brightly on the screen. It was curiosity that led her to answering the unknown person; but on any other occasion, she would have let it ring without answering.

"Hello?" she said, rather apprehensively.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. All she could hear was the sound of faint labored breathing.

"Hello?" she repeated, a lot more confident, "who is this?"

The person exhaled, "did you get my message?" the familiar husky voice spoke softly.

"Troy?" the brunette gasped. She reached for the remote and muted the T.V.

"Yeah, it's me" he muttered somewhat embarrassed. "Did you get my message?"

"No." she snapped the anger she had felt towards him in the gym returned at full force, "why did you call?"

"I…um, I'll just call later." And the line went dead.

LM2

_1648_

_10/13/10_

_To: Gabriella_

_I'm sorry._

_From: unknown number_

Gabriella felt overwhelmed as she stared at the words; who had ever heard Troy apologize to the same person, thrice, in a little over a month? Her thumb hesitated over the open button for the second time. Sure, she wasn't sure if she should have opened the first message, but she did and now she was anxious for the second.

_1734_

_10/13/10_

_To: Gabriella_

_Ella, I know I've said this a lot, but just so you know I always mean and this time I mean it the most, so, I'm sorry. I really, truly, am. You have no idea how hard things are for me; I've got my dad to deal with, my friends, East High, and you. I just have so much to deal with right now, especially these fucked up feelings of mine __. I really want to get to know, more than you could possibly imagine, but it's hard and I know it shouldn't be but is._

_From: unknown number_

Gabriella fingered the keys and stared at the illuminated television screen like a lost puppy. She didn't know what to think: what to say or what to do. Her fingers ghosted over the keys, her heart thumping frantically in her chest. Thoughts raged through her clouded mind as she waited for her mobile phone to flash, but even after what felt like minutes, not once did it flash.

By eleven thirty, after finishing her movie and the rest of her homework, Gabriella had given up on all hope that Troy would call back so she abandoned her cell phone on her desk and decided to go for her long awaited shower. Just as the soothing warmth of the water trickled down her body a loud blaring came from her room. Without even thinking, she shut the water off grabbed her towel, ran into her room and grabbed her phone, not caring that she had left large puddles of water behind her.

"Hello." She panted without even looking at the caller ID.

"_Um, hey"_ Troy sounded hesitant, "_did I wake you?"_ Gabriella shook her head cordially forgetting that he couldn't see her, _"Gabriella, you still there?"_

"Yea." She whispered, "You okay?" she had taken note of the hoarseness in his voice and managed to put two and two together. She would have just come out and asked but knowing that he was very sensitive and unpredictable about the subject, she didn't. There was a long pause on the other end of the line, before he finally spoke,

"_Yeah, I just wanted to hear your voice."_ His husky voice stretched out like a talon which gripped at Gabriella's heart strings and tugged them gently. Her eyes closed as a hint of crimson began to form on her cheeks. _"G*d, I wish I was there to see your blush."_ She could see him smirking proudly at his accomplishment and she bit her lip hard to keep from retorting, but it came out anyway, "Get a life, Bolton." She snapped.

He chuckled, _"Ouch."_ She smiled. _"Have you studied for your history test tomorrow?" _he asked randomly

"How do you know I have a history test tomorrow?" she asked teasingly, but he only laughed, "So I take it you've been following me?"

"_How could you accuse me of something like that?"_ he asked with fake shock. Gabriella just smiled and shrugged. Hours passed without the duo even realizing it; they were too caught up in their conversation to notice the time that was until Gabriella's eyes traveled to the clock sitting on her bedside table which read 2:46am. Realizing this she accidently let out a loud yawn and blushed. _"Aww, sounds like someone's sleepy."_ Troy teased stifling a yawn as well. Her blush deepened,

"_I'll see you in the morning?"_ he asked his voice suddenly quieter.

"Hmm." She mumbled.

"_Pick you up at seven?"_

The brunette yawned again, "yup."

"Goodnight, Ella."

LM2

_His muscular body hovered over hers, beads of sweat running down his front and back as he moved at the same speed as her, expressing his love for her. His turquoise blue eyes never leaving hers, he cupped the side of her hot face and pushed the damp strands of her hair behind her ears. Her own hands untangled from his chestnut waves and slithered down to his shoulders causing him to shudder in pleasure._

_She was so close._

_Her nails dug into his shoulders as she bit her lip hard to stop from crying out._

"_Ella!" he grunted, pulling her body closer and breaking their eye contact by burying his face in the crook of her neck and nipping at the skin there. "Shit." She could feel the burst of pleasure building up within her as he cradled her body against his and took her to unreachable heights._

"_Troy" she whimpered, clawing mercilessly at his back with her nails._

_His lips found hers, as…_

The shrill beeping of an alarm woke Gabriella from her dream. She detangled herself from her soaked sheets and made her way to her bathroom. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face glistened with sweat, her eyes shone brighter than they had in a while and her hair stuck matted to her head; he had done this to her. A wide smile played at her lips as she thought of their conversation the night before.

"Troy Alexander Bolton." She tested the name on her tongue and found that she liked it, a lot; a lot more than she should have. As she got ready, she noticed that she put more effort into her appearance than she normally would have. For once she decided to leave her hair down—well the half up, half down do. A little foundation for the growing zits and she was ready. As she walked out into the chilly morning she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and discomfort in her new attire; a black and white striped and floral tunic tank, over a another black tank, dark skinny jeans and black and white Converse high tops; definitely a new Gabriella.

Climbing into Troy's truck she slapped her forehead for forgetting to bring a jacket when it was freezing outside.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, starting up the vehicle.

"Be right back. I forgot to get a jacket."

But Troy stopped her, "Hey I've got a spare in the back…" without waiting for her reply he reached into the back **(A/N: I know Troy's car doesn't have a backseat but let's just say it does)** and pulled out an oversized hoodie, that had the wildcats head on it, sprawled across the seat and tossed it to the brunette, who held it reluctantly,

"Is it, you know…clean?" she asked shyly.

Troy laughed, "I don't have sex in my truck, if you must know. Never have never will." He paused and looked at her slyly, "unless your impatient and want to—" she cut him off by hitting him hard on the arm but she was smiling. "You look really different by the way…good different." As he spoke he pushed the hair covering her bronze shoulder and cupped the side of her neck, using his thumb to stroke her jaw affectionately. The familiar electric zings shot through their bodies at the contact. She knew she shouldn't like or want the feelings and desires he sparked inside of her. Her small hand clasped around his wrist.

"I think we should get going." She said awkwardly turning her head away from his warm hand when she felt her face heat up. She let her hand drop and intertwined it with her other one. Troy nodded, embarrassed and pulled his hand away.

"Don't wanna be late."

Gabriella nodded in agreement. She pulled the oversized hoodie on. Her eyelids fluttered of their own accord when his familiar scent surrounded her. She found herself snuggling deeper into the soft material that smelt and somehow felt like Troy.

"You know, you're the first girl I've ever let wear my clothes. You should be honored." He stated smugly

Gabriella sighed dramatically, "fine, I'll try but that's only because I'm not in the mood to bruise your ego."

During the ride they continued where they had left off the night before. Troy parked in his usual spot, and before he could say anything, Gabriella left before he could say anything fearing that he would not want to be seen with her.

"Loving the new look, chica, except for that…thing." Was the first thing Sharpay said to her that morning, frowning at the gray hoodie. Beaming, the brunette twirled on the spot and puckered her lips playfully. Then the blonde saw the big bold letters on the back, "BOLTON?" The blonde screeched unable to control herself, "you're wearing Bolton's hoodie?" Several heads turned at the mention of their star player's name, but Sharpay hadn't noticed. She grabbed Gabriella by the sleeve and turned her around, her light hazel eyes studying the material. "What is going on between you two? Are you together?"

Gabriella shook her head. She could feel her face heat up at the number of glares she was receiving from the students in the hall. "NO!"

Sharpay's lips formed a thin line and she placed her hands on her hips, "Explain."

Unable to take the stares any longer, Gabriella grabbed the blondes arm and pulled her into an empty hall, "He gave it to me because I forgot mine."

"When?" She asked suspiciously, "does he still give you rides?" Gabriella nodded somewhat hesitantly.

"This morning he gave it to me." And with that, Gabriella began explaining what had happened in the past two days, purposefully leaving out a number of details.

"He so likes you." Sharpay concluded once Gabriella had finished.

"No he doesn't."

"Does he act, say, different around you?"

"He acts like Troy…"

"Exactly." Sharpay exclaimed, "when is Bolton ever Troy around people, even with Chad he's cold, but with you he's like a whole other person." The blonde paused dramatically, "he likes you, a lot. So much that he's not afraid to be himself."

"How do you know that what is in school is who really he is?"

"No one can be born without feelings. Face it, Gabs, you're the only person Troy Bolton isn't afraid to be himself around."

LM2

**A/N: Sucks, I know. It was kinda rushed. I wanted to update for a passionate affair but I don't think I can 'cause I'm traveling soon, but all the same I'll try.**


	15. A date?

**A/N: Sorry, I know it's been a while. This chapter was rushed so I apologize for that and the many mistakes I've probably made, but anywway enjoy.**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 15 – ****Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

A wide smiled played slowly across his face as his eyes followed the figure sitting atop the stool across the room with her arms folded on the table in front of her, her goggles hanging losely off her neck, her hair pulled back neatly with no loose strands and her dark hazel eyes, full of concentration focused on the teacher in the chalky white lab coat prancing around in front of the class.

His own eyes skimmed across the perfect golden skin to the unruly black curls cascading down her clothed back all the way to the chocolate staring right his own aquamarine ones. Her lips stretched and her smile resembled his. Without thinking he sent her a sexy wink and watched as she ducked her head to hide the blush that he knew was definitely there. She hastily sent his another small smile before returning her full attention on the young woman in front of the class.

Next to her, the male blond placed his pale hand on hers and whispered something in her ear which resulted into a fit of giggles from the female brunette and a bright sickly green to cloud Troy's vision. His smile vanished and his lips stretched into a thin smile. he sucked in a breath and tore his eyes from the duo. It hurt to watch her interact with other males who he knew had a greater chance of being with her than he did; he clenched his fists and jaw and refused to look back at her. He fought the urge to grab her face and plant severall passionate kisses on her luscious lips and mark her as his; but that would be crazily stupid.

"Ms. Montez? Please come." He watched as the brunette he had been watching rose from her seat and walked to the front of the class. He watched as she stopped in front of Ms. Summers desk and nodded to everything the older woman said.

He looked at the male blond sitting quietly in his seat and his eyes formed slits.

"He likes her a lot." a voice beside him spoke, "she only sees him as a friend."

Troy frowned as he stared at the African American girl beside him. Taylor's eyes narrowed, "that shouldn't mean anything to you." she said dangerously her long finger a few inches from his eyes. He felt his lips curl upwards at the ferocity of the girl before him. His humored attitude only made her eyes darken and her lips curl inwards. "I'm not kidding."

He only shook his head andd turned to the sizzling test tube on the table in front of him.

* * *

"...and she stepped on my foot. Can you fucking believe that?"

Troy was hardly listening to the words falling out of Chad's mouth, his mind was somewhere else, where he was three, unscathed and for once happy; in the arms of his mother.

"Yo, are you even listening to me?" Chad snapped nudging Troy harshly. The brunette boy lifted his head to glare at his best friend but instead found himself staring at none other than Gabriella. He refrained from smiling and just sent her a little wave which she returned with a bashful smile. "Are you...G*d no. Dude?" Chad hissed. He folleowed his friends gaze once more and felt bile rise to his throat at the sight of Gabriella sitting next to Taylor at a table that was across from them. Troy immediately averted his eyes to his food trying to control the sparks of anger rising within. He hadn't wanted Chad to catch him staring, it had been bad enough when Chad had yelled at him earlier that morning for coming to school with her, and giving her his jacket. "Forget about that bitch, she's not worth it."

Troy didn't know what came over him. The moment the words left Chad's mouth he saw red; blood. He felt his body tense and the pulse in his neck quicken as his fist connected hard with the side of Chad's face.

It was as if a shadow had been cast across the entire cafeteria; everything just went quiet and all eyes were fixed on the two basketball stars in the center of the room.

"Don't you ever fucking say that about her. Ever!" Troy snapped dangerously before harshly pushing Chad to the floor and making his way through the clean cut the crowd had created and out of the crowded lunch hall. The door slammed behind him and almost immediately hushed murmurs began to float across the room.

"What just happened?"

"What did Danforth do?"

"Who's the 'she'?"

"He looked at me!"

He heard all those things in his head as he weaved his way angrily through the deserted halls. He felt guilty but satisfied towards his actions. Chad desevred what he got; big time.

Out of nowhere a he felt his lips twitch as his mind recalled the way Gabriella had shot out of her seat as he moved towards the door and started to make her way to him before she was stopped by none other than the blonde, whose name he always had trouble remembering but knew it resembled a dog, and Mckessie. He had felt his heart lurch at the fact that the girl he had been following for the past few months had been about to go after him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" The cold voice made his skin prickle and cold sweat to break on on the surface. His fingers twitched and he swallowed the bitter taste of bile in his throat. A large hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into a dark corner, far from any prying eyes. "Answer me." a fist connected hard with his stomach and his body crumpled, towards the body of the man holding him up.

"I-I don't...know." He panted, gasping for oxygen. It hurt to breathe.

Another punch to the stomach. "Don't lie to me boy." the older man hissed venomously, slamming him hard into the lockers. Troy shivered as his father's hot breath blew across his face. His father smirked in satisfaction, "don't let it happen again" and with that he let his son fall to the ground in a heavy heap before he disappeared around the corner.

Troy picked himself off of the floor, refusing to cry and unaware of the wide dark brown eyes, of his apologetic bushy haired friend, that had taken in the entire scene.

Chad could not move a single muscle in his body. Never had he been so shocked and repulsed in his entire life. A defeated sigh made it's way to his ear, which triggered something and he found himself rushing to the aid of his best friend. He grabbed Troy's arm and carefully hoisted him to a standing position. He was surprised when the basketball capatin didn't push him away or yell at him for getting into other people's business, but was even more surprised when he leaned against him for support.

* * *

Gabriella was seconds away from pulling all her hair out.

She hadn't seen Troy ever since his little display in the cafeteria. She needed to know if he was okay; he didn't look it when he left the cafeteria, and to top it off she had seen her his father walking through the halls with a pleased look on his face and that only heightened her worry. She had tried calling him a dozen times and sent him several text messages but he never picked up neither did he reply to any of her texts.

She ran her fingers over the smooth edge of her locker as she tried to relax and regulate her breathing.

"Gabriella right?"

Her head shot up at the sound of the masculine voice. She felt her face heat up and butterflies erupt in her stomach at the hue of the gray blue eyes staring down at her intensely. She nodded.

"I'm Logan." as he said that he flicked his shaggy ash blond hair out of his face in a way similar to Troy's but not as sexy she noted taking the hand he held out for her to shake.

"Hi."

"Not to seem stalkerish or creepy in anyway, but I've been watching you for some time and you seem like a really interesting person, the kind of person I would like to get to know over a sizzing plate of pasta at _Luigi's Pasta _Place?" Logan asked hopefully with a small grin.

Gabriella felt her stomach leap to her chest at the question. The captain of the footbal team was standing in front of her by her locker with a cute grin and asking her out to dinner. "As in a date?" she sputtered.

Logan's grin widened, "if that's what you want then I'm perfectly fine with it." He winked and Gabriella blushed.

"What do you say, ms. Montez? A dinner with the hunky blond?"

She had absolutely no idea what to say. It was just too much. "I'll think about it." She managed. Logan peeked over her shoulder and smirked. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to the corner of her lips and whispered against her skin, "call me when you're done thinking." and he was gone.

Gabriella's hand flew to the corner of her mouth and stroked the skin where his lips had been earlier, her body shook and her eyes were the sizes of saucers.

"What the hell were you thinking?" The familiar voice brought her out of her daydream. She looked up at Troy's annoying aquamarine eyes and could clearly make out a hint of hurt with the deep blue pools.

"Huh?" she asked stupidly.

Troy scoffed, "Why were you talking to Briggs?"

"Logan?"

He said nothing but just grabbed her wrist and pulled her harsly out of the school.

**A/N: I apologize for all the mistakes again, but review! **


	16. My Wildcat

**A/N: A lot has been changed so I would advise you to re-read, especially the flashback. Thanks for the reviews; over 200! Wooooooooow! BTW, I have a new story up, Her Guardian Angel, check it out and review. Enjoy… **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 16 – Welcome to my life**

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?**_

_**Do you ever feel out of place?**_

_**Like somehow you just don't belong**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**Do you ever want to run away?**_

_**Do you lock yourself in your room?**_

_**With the radio on turned up so loud**_

_**That no one hears you screaming**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**When nothing feels alright**_

_**You don't know what it's like**_

_**To be like me**_

_**To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark**_

_**To be kicked, when you're down**_

_**And feel like you've been pushed around**_

_**To be on the edge of breaking down,**_

_**And no one understands you**_

_**No you don't know what it's like**_

_**WELCOME TO MY LIFE!**_

Fear:-a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Even though it had happened nearly twenty-four hours earlier she felt herself tremble every time the cold angered eyes cloud her vision. She shook her head to rid herself of the memory and fell into step with her two new best friends as they made their way out of Hollister each carrying at least three shopping bags all of which belonged to the blonde covered in pink from head to toe; the blonde herself only carried two bags, her excuse being she didn't want to damage her perfectly done nails.

Taylor cursed under her breath as one of the many bags dangling off her arm fell on the floor.

"Tay!" Sharpay screeched in horror as the contents fell out of the bag. The darker girl scowled at the blonde and purposefully took her time to collect the clothes that were scattered across the dirty floor.

"I'm hungry. Can we get something to eat?" Gabriella interjected trying to prevent the two from getting into an argument in the middle of the crowded mall.

"So you didn't tell us what happened yesterday between you and..._him_." Taylor spat with distaste as they sat at a vacant table with their food and bags. Gabriella reflexively shuddered at the memory and looked away to hide the blush forming on her cheeks.

"Nothing much happened." she blurted hurriedly and stuffed half of her hot dog in her mouth.

"Liar" Sharpay smirked "we all know something huge and gossip-worthy happened between you two now tell!"

Gabriella nervously played with her fingers as images from the day before filled her mind.

FLASHBACK

_His fingers locked like steel around her wrist. He effortlessly hauled her out through the entrance of the school to the parking lot to his truck._

_"Get in." he spoke the same way he had when he had walked out of the gym and saw her standing there in shock. She got into the truck without arguing and created a large distance from him and kept her eyes trained on her hands. He didn't look at her as he got into the drivers seat and started the car. Gabriella felt stupid for getting into the car with him in the first place; if he wanted to kill her or worse she had just made it easier for him. She stared out of the window hardly able to make out where they were as the truck zoomed past houses, buildings and trees._

_Troy finally stopped the car and pulled off the road and only then did Gabriella raise her head to take in their surroundings. They were on what looked like a bluff, dotted with patches of brown and green grass and a few shriveled up shrubs. The truck was parked on the dry cracked earth not too far from the edge, even though all she could see beyond the edge were mountains of unattractive dried sand she still thought it was something to look at especially with the setting sun casting an orange glow across the land and that made Gabriella realize that they had been driving for quite some time. _

_She wanted to look at him but what she believed she would probably see frightened her. Gabriella felt her body lock as Troy exhaled loudly and passed his hand over his face. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. He didn't look at her as he spoke._

_"Why we're you talking to him?" resentment dripped nastily off of his voice and a series of cold shivers raced down Gabriella's spine rubbing against her bones in a taunting manner._

_"What are you talking about?" Gabriella was surprised she could form words on her desert like tongue._

_Troy finally faced her and Gabriella felt another wave of fear wash over her, but she refused to show it, as she saw the navy fire dancing in his eyes. His jaw was firmly set, teeth and fists clenched and his body trembling with anger. "You sure as hell know what I'm talking about!" he barked. "What did he say to you?"_

_Gabriella felt herself flush in embarrassment and she turned to stare out of the window; away from him._

_"Why should it bother you what we were talking about?" she challenged, she was definitely playing with fire._

_Troy frowned at her and after a long pause finally said "because you don't know him like I do."_

_"And how do you know him?" she asked turning and facing him, looking him straight in the eye to show she wasn't scared or intimidated._

_"I just do."_

_She looked out the window, finding the scenery way more interesting to take in than him, "he asked me out," she paused when she heard his sharp intake of air, "on a date."_

_She didn't miss the look of horror, pain, disappointment and many other emotions that crossed his face at her revelation. For the first time in her life she actually saw Troy Bolton, open, with his _emotions clear on his face, stutter.

_"W-What did you say?" he asked after he had managed to collect himself. He looked almost too scared to ask._

_Gabriella tried to shrug nonchalantly, "I told him I'd think about it." She looked at his tired face from beneath her thick lashes, anxiously waiting to see what he would say next. _

_She watched Troy let out a relieved sigh and run his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry." he murmured. When he looked at her she could tell he was really sorry, because of this she felt a tight knot form in the pit of her stomach. She had no idea that talking to Logan would have caused him so much pain and she most definitely did not want that especially with his issues with his dad and that thought then caused an even tighter knot to form in her chest. She couldn't look at him not with images of his tortured face when he faced his father flashing through her mind. So instead of talking she just nodded and continued staring out of the window._

_"Gabriel - Ella?" he said after a long awkward silence. _

_"Hmm?" Gabriella turned to face him, heart stuttering under her ribs at the usage of _his _nickname for _her_. _

_"Do you like him?"_

_She felt her heart clench at the intense gaze he fixed on her. She couldn't reply neither could she form any words on her tongue as her brain had turned to mush. He hesitantly leaned towards her and cupped her cheek bring her face halfway to meet his. Their noses brushed softly before his lips claimed hers; soft yet demanding. She felt as though she had just been thrown into a vat of molten hot lava, at the same time being struck by thousands of bolts of lightning. She trembled under his touch. His hand moved from her cheek and pushed its way in her soft tendrils massaging her scalp as his tongue pressed against her bottom lip. With as much strength as he could muster in his dream like state he pulled her from her seat and on top of him, knees on either side of his hip. His free hand coiled around her small waist and brought her body flush against his as his lips worked at prying her own soft ones open._

_His hands slipped beneath the hem of her shirt and his fingers dug into her soft skin. His fingers dug deeper as a pleasurable moan passed through her lips, muffled by his lips. Something about her moan made Troy almost rip her clothes off and have her right there and then , in the driver's seat of his old beat up truck; he wanted to make her make that sound again, over and over again until he was satisfied._

_Gabriella was on another level, an unreachable one._

_His hand felt like fire, against her freezing skin, that spread through her, with most of it heading down south to the tight pull in her lower abdomen. She pressed her hands flat against his chest, feeling his heart slam capriciously beneath them, almost to the same rhythm as her own heart._

_She fought against him for dominance but gave up after several failed attempts seeing as he had a lot more experience than her. His tongue entered her mouth and wasted no time in tasting and caressing every corner of her warm sweetness. All this time she could only sit back and let him guide her through mountains of continuous bliss._

_"G*d"_ _Troy moaned raggedly into her mouth still trying to bring her closer to him, not caring that the only way they could be closer than they already were was if she was part of him. He was on fire, he could feel the scalding flames spreading through his blood, searing his heart and then making its way down to his excited organ, one that only males possessed, the same one that was throbbing painfully against the rough material of his underwear. _

_As Gabriella pulled back from lack of oxygen, something caught her eye. Half hidden beneath the collar of his coral blue shirt was a bruise, a fresh one in fact. She felt her blood boil. Tentatively, from it place on Troy's chest, her hand slithered upwards and softly touched the discolored skin. She barely felt the feather-light kisses Troy was placing against her jaw as she pushed the collar of his shirt away leaving the bruise open._

"_You okay?" Troy had felt her tense posture a while ago and thought it would pass but it didn't which left him curious and worried. His grip around her waist slackened and the hand buried deep in her dark curls tilted her face to look at him. Her lips, fuller and reddened from the brutal kisses he had placed against them moments before were pressed together tightly with little space between them, her coffee colored eyes were wide and glassy…with tears. "Hey…hey don't cry." He muttered softly, dabbing her lower lids with his callused thumb. _

_This was a side of Troy Bolton no one could ever say they had witnessed; gentle, caring and loving. _

_With watery eyes, Gabriella wrapped her arms securely around Troy's neck and pressed her nose against his forehead. Both their eyes closed simultaneously, Troy's shut in bliss and relief, and Gabriella shut hers to hide her pain._

"_I'm sorry he's an asshole." She murmured against his closed eyelid._

_As soon as she said that it was like something switched on inside Troy. The lust in his eyes evaporated leaving shock, anger and vulnerability. "What the fuck?" he hissed even though he knew what she meant. He wrapped both his hands around her wrists and locked her arms tightly against her body. She had crossed a line; two actually. She'd made him feel something he couldn't quite put his finger on and now she was sticking her nose into places where it wasn't quite wanted. "I told you to forget about that shit" he growled his once azure eyes turning a dark navy, a color they only changed to when he was either angry or turned on, but Gabriella knew that he was far from turned on. _

_For once she didn't feel scared at this sudden change, even though he was furious she knew he wouldn't hurt her and besides she knew it hurt him to show his true feelings which led her to believe he was scared of being vulnerable. _

_The gap he was trying to create between their bodies hurt for both of them. The flush of ice cold air wasn't exactly pleasant._

"_How do you expect me to forget something like this?" her voice came out calm and softer than she had expected. She tried to catch his eye but he refused to let her and kept his on the steering wheel behind her. He shook his head and gently tried to push her off, at the action, the tears doubled on the rims of her eyes. She climbed off his lap, feeling rejected and returned to the passenger seat._

_"Can we pretend that never happened...please" He was obviously begging her; he was that desperate to get rid of her. She bit down hard on her lip and tried to wipe away at the forming tears in her eyes. She nodded._

_"Come here." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into half hug. She wasn't fazed by the sudden change in his attitude but what surprised her was the fact that after everything that had transpired in the vehicle minutes before he still wanted her near. So she accepted his hug._

_A hug between friends; only friends, no more no less._

END OF FLASHBACK

That was now four days ago and she had been avoiding Troy since. Of course there were times when he cornered her by her locker, but the she'd make up lame excuses as to why she had to leave and then hide in the girls' bathroom until she was sure it was safe to come out. She always made sure that she left the house earlier than usual and took a different, yet longer, route to school just to avoid him. Even though being away from him hurt like a bitch she had to do it, especially if she was planning on mending the pieces of her heart he had broken.

Of course during her explanation she left out the whole bruise thing and just told her friends she said something to him that he shouldn't have and left it at that.

"You've got to be shitting me." Sharpay's perfect brows furrowed as she narrowed her eyes. She looked repulsed and angry. "That _hot _son of—"

"Yo, Hoops!"

Both Gabriella and Taylor turned to the sound of the speaker. Taylor's heart accelerated when her eyes landed on the dark skinned boy with the wild afro. She stopped breathing instantly and stared at Chad in a trance. She took in the way his green shirt clung to his well defined muscles, the way he expertly rolled the basketball between his large brown hands she shut her eyes and imagined his soft callused hands running softly over her face, her lips, her neck, then with his lips following the same path… She sighed in longing.

"I can't believe him!" Sharpay whispered snapping Taylor out of her day dream. None of the three could process what was taking before them.

Troy had his arm around the shoulders of a tall leggy girl with unnatural white blonde hair who was currently sucking his face off. Troy pulled away from the girl long enough to point his middle finger at Chad before focusing his attention back on the girl he couldn't remember the name of.

Sure the girl was hot and a pretty experienced kisser, but she couldn't compare to the kiss that had taken place four days ago and was still fresh in his mind. He regretted kissing her but he didn't regret pulling away. Ever since the day he first met her he had been trying to extinguish his feelings for her but after that kiss in his truck his feelings seemed to double, and what he felt towards her now was way more intense than what he had felt before.

"Baby." He internally cringed at the low husky drawl from the girl now perched enthusiastically on his lap. "Are you okay?" Troy nearly burst out laughing at the fake concern in her voice, but all the same ignored her question. Just as he was about to reattach their lips something across from where he sat caught his eye and he felt as though a bucket of ice had been dunked over his head.

Gabriella stared back at him different emotions dancing across her olive face, her doe eyes wide and filled with shock, disgust and what looked like…jealousy?

Troy forced a small smile and sent her a tiny wave despite the fact that she looked ready to kill. Without a second glance at the girl in his lap, he stood up and strode over to where the brunette sat with the two other girls he finally managed to get the names of.

"Hello ladies," he spoke in the same husky tone that caused woman to swoon and fall to their knees, but none of the girls seemed fazed except for the blonde who smirked slyly at him and winked.

"Who was that?" Gabriella queried nodding to where the girl with white blonde hair was fixing up her hair and making her way to the fountain where a bunch of guys who were probably in college were standing. Without turning to look Troy shrugged lazily and wrapped his lips around the straw of her drink not seeming to care that her lips had been wrapped around the same straw before. In actual fact Troy wasn't exactly interested in the drink he wasn't even bothered what it was the only reason he took it was to have his mouth on the same place where Gabriella had hers.

From opposite the pair, Taylor and Sharpay exchanged excited knowing looks.

"We'll be right back; Shar forgot her purse back in _Hollister_." Taylor lied using her hip to bump Sharpay into a standing position.

Troy chuckled, "the purse wouldn't happen to be pink and have her initials on the front written out in rhinestones, would it?" he eyed the very same purse tucked beneath Sharpay's arm with a smirk. The two were in shock by this unknown side of Troy that all they could muster was a muttered "no" before they scurried off. "Now that they're gone," Troy let out a breath of relief, "why have _you _been avoiding _me_?" he spoke in a laidback tone as his fingers wrapped around a curl dangling in her face. For once she had decided to wear her hair down naturally and felt slightly thankful as he played with a curl. "I like your hair this way. It looks better, and the no make-up suits you better." He admitted frowning at the light eye shadow on her eye lids.

As expected Gabriella blushed in a way only Troy could make her and averted her gaze elsewhere. "Thanks."

"You haven't answered my question." He slowly tucked the curl he had been playing with behind her ear and raised her head to meet her eyes.

"I don't know…I guess I've been confused and there's been a lot on my mind lately," she admitted again avoiding his azure eyes, "it doesn't matter." She shrugged.

"Well if it's causing you to avoid me then it matters, especially to me." He smiled one of those real smiles he rarely had on, "come on, tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours." He joking knocked his knuckles against her forehead, hoping it would make her smile. It did!

"I said yes to Logan yesterday and he's taking me out tonight."

And just like that, all traces of humor were gone from Troy's face, "what?" he rasped. He could not believe it. He didn't want Gabriella alone with Briggs or anywhere near him. He shut his eyes tight and ran his fingers through his hair pulling softly at the tips to try and provide himself with at least some self control. _It's her choice, Bolton, deal with it. Besides it's just one guy, think of all the girls _you've _been with!_

"Wildcat?" Gabriella placed a small hand on his muscled arm. He opened his eyes, raised his brows and forced a convincing smile.

"_Wildcat_?" he teased, his smile turning to a real one when she blushed and bowed her head.

"You call me 'Ella' and I thought that you could be my Wildcat but if…" she trailed off clearly embarrassed especially at the sound of Troy's throaty chuckle. His warm hand cupped her heated cheek and brought her face to meet his.

"Your Wildcat?" she opened her mouth to protest when he continued, "I like the sound of that." He breathed his minty breath blowing across her face and arousing her senses, with his palm still pressed against her cheek.

"I'm glad."

**A/N: There you have it! I hope this one's better than the first one. But that last bit reminds me of somethig, I think I've heard it before, in a movie or something...  
**


	17. She's Got A Boyfriend Now

**A/N: Out of boredom I went through the reviews for this story and I was beaming from the first page to the last, non-stop, you guys are AWESOME so I just had to type this chapter, ASAP! And with the whole Zac and Leslie thing, I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I know that he's a one woman kind of guy. Anyhow, enjoy this chapter.**

**ZANESSA 'TILL THE END, HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY! **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 17 – Welcome to my life**

**_Do you ever feel like breaking down?_**

**_Do you ever feel out of place?_**

**_Like somehow you just don't belong_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_Do you ever want to run away?_**

**_Do you lock yourself in your room?_**

**_With the radio on turned up so loud_**

**_That no one hears you screaming_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_When nothing feels alright_**

**_You don't know what it's like_**

**_To be like me_**

**_To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark_**

**_To be kicked, when you're down_**

**_And feel like you've been pushed around_**

**_To be on the edge of breaking down,_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_WELCOME TO MY LIFE!_**

He couldn't sleep.

Just the thought of Briggs alone with her made his blood fizz, and then to top it up he couldn't feel his left arm and the really inappropriate noises resonating off of the walls in the house were enough to make him gag. Propped up on his side he brought the same hoodie that had been wrapped around her small body only days before and buried his deep in the thick material breathing in the familiar scent that spelled Gabriella; vanilla and strawberries, an odd combination but he wouldn't have it any other way. Even with a blindfold covering his eyes and locked in a room full of women smothered in the same mixture he would still be able to point her out for hers was that unique.

He was seconds from going crazy.

He needed to know how that date going, he needed to be certain that Briggs would keep his hands to himself all through, that Gabriella ended up hating the date and him and telling him that she never wanted to see him again and that Troy was the only one for her. He was _her_ Wildcat, in other words he was hers, always.

The loud blaring of his phone cut through the silence in his room (if you ignored the loud moans coming from other parts of the house). Troy groaned. He didn't want to talk to anyone but her.

"Dude, you better not have that lazy ass of yours in bed?" Troy scowled at the sound of his best friends' voice and muttered an insult. He could hear cheering and loud music coming from Chad's end.

"I don't care, come on over. I've got alcohol and I've got chicks, tons of each so you better get your shriveled ass over to my place pronto!"

Before Troy could reply, Chad had hung up.

* * *

His head was pounding hard against his skull. His muscles were sore and every time he moved a searing pain ran through him. He carefully touched his aching head and brought his body o a sitting position, then he realized he wasn't in his bed and neither was he in his room. The quiet moan of a girl came from his left and he sighed; of course. He had gotten wasted at Chad's party and slept with the first girl he saw. He cringed as he sat on the edge of the bed and placed his feet firmly on the tile while searching for his clothes.

Minutes later he was standing in the Danforth's kitchen with some Advil he had found in the medicine cabinet in Chad's bathroom. He leaned against the counter and downed the pills then buried his face in his hands and sighed.

"Rough night?" Zeke asked, entering the kitchen whilst rubbing his dark hand over his face.

"You could say that."

Zeke nodded in understanding and opened the fridge, "so how's Gabriella?" the dark skinned basketball player pulled out a can of soda, popped the cap and leaned against the fridge.

Troy's eyes widened. _Gabriella! _He had forgotten about her and her date, "Shit" he muttered patting his jeans in search of his phone.

"So you really like her?" Zeke asked taking a sip of his soda.

Troy hesitated, trying to choose his words, "yeah." He finally admitted. A triumphant smile graced Zeke features and he said,

"She's something special. Don't let her go."

Troy looked up at him. This was the first time anyone, other than Gabriella, had ever given him advice and for some reason he found himself listening to his teammate, "don't plan on it." Against his trouser pocket his phone vibrated. He fished it out and looked at the screen. Gabriella.

Zeke smirked as he watched his friends' expression, "I'll leave you two alone."

Once Zeke had disappeared, Troy let himself out of the back door and into the garden before answering the call.

"Hey you." He greeted huskily into the receiver.

"Hey, Wildcat." Her giggle left him feeling warm and relaxed.

"So how did your date go?" he asked trying to sound casual even though on the inside he was dying to know.

Gabriella giggled, "It was amazing," she gushed and Troy felt a sharp stab in his chest. He shut his eyes tight and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. That was not the way it had played out in his head. She was supposed to call him after her date and tell him it went badly and that she hated Logan and wanted him, Troy, instead! "…to a really expensive restaurant and he such a gentleman. He opened the door for me and pulled my seat back and everything and we're going out again today."

"Um, that's great." His tone was anything but enthusiastic and she was quick to pick p on it.

"Wildcat? You okay?"

"Yeah, long night." He breathed, "Chad had a party…"

"Oh." She paused, "Did you drink? How was it?"

"I woke up in bed with a girl." He sighed not realizing the tension his revelation caused. "I missed your voice." He spoke after a long silence. "Fuck I'm not there to see you blush." He teased.

She laughed, "Serves you right, Bolton."

"You wanna hang out today? Just the two of us?"

"I can't." another stab to the chest, "I'm sorry. What about tomorrow after school?"

He was disappointed but he would never turn down a chance to see Gabriella so he shrugged, "why not. I'll pick you up in the morning."

"Actually…" she hesitated and he knew he wouldn't like it, "Logan said he would pick me up. But after school he has practice."

"Sure I'll take you home."

"I have to go, Wildcat. I need to get ready for my date." She laughed and Troy forced a chuckle, "see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

"That girl was _hot_ last night. I mean, I was on fire!"

Troy was hardly listening to Chad; instead his eyes were fixed on the couple standing by her locker. Logan was leaning against the locker next to hers, his body facing hers as he listened to her whilst she shoved books into her locker. Troy scowled when the blond fixed his gray-blue eyes on him and gave him a sly smirk as he placed a hand on Gabriella's back, quite close to her butt and whispered something in her ear that caused her to giggle. Troy's scowl widened; that was _his_ giggle Logan was stealing. He had a good mind to walk over there and punch the daylights out of Briggs but that was exactly what the blond wanted so he forced himself to listen to Chad explain his night. When he finally looked back, the two were gone but standing by Gabriella's locker with rejection written all over his face was Ryan Evans, holding a single red rose which made Troy snort. He knew that Gabriella's favorite flower was the phlox; he remembered her telling him that she loved they felt against her skin and how beautiful the flower looked when it was bunched up with others of its kind.

The bell cut through Chad's explanation and all through the group relieved sighs were emitted. Troy walked into Ms. Darbus class followed closely by Chad, Zeke and a few of his teammates and immediately found his desk occupied by three different girls. He groaned tiredly, he really wasn't in the mood so instead of talking or showing any signs of interest, getting the hint, all three girls stood and left but not happily.

"Hey, Wildcat." Her voice purred in his ear sending tingles through him. He smiled for the first time since he last spoke to her on the phone on Saturday and watched her take a seat on his desk.

"Hey, _Ella_." He teased watching as his favorite shade of red formed on her cheeks.

"Anyway, you excited?" Her eyes were brighter and a lot lighter and her lips were glossy pink, making him just want to bury them under his.

"What's there to be excited about?" he sighed tracing circles on her jean clad knee. He watched her eyelids flutter and her squared teeth chew on her bottom lip.

Her breath hitched as Troy's hand inched higher up her thigh still continuing its ministrations. "School ends in two days."

He sighed, "I forgot." He dropped his hand onto the desk and looked to his right. "Darbus is late for a change." He chuckled dryly.

Gabriella ignored him. She had figured why he wasn't so excited about the end of school, "you're welcome to stay at my house for as long as you like." She offered .He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair making Gabriella feel an urge to replace his hands with hers.

"Please don't." he begged, "just not now."

She gave him a sad smile, "want a hug?"

He smirked the famous "Troy Bolton smirk", "when have I been known to turn down physical contact with a girl?" he joked, pulling her into his arms. "You smell so fucking good." He breathed into her ear, letting his lips graze her lobe. She pulled back awkwardly,

"Thanks," she murmured, "Logan says he prefers expensive perfume, but I don't."

Troy frowned at the mention of his enemy, "what is he like your boyfriend now?" he narrowed his eyes as he watched her fidget in her seat.

"He, uh—"

And Ms. Darbus chose that exact moment to waltz into the room, "alright people settle down!"

Gabriella jumped and rushed to her seat, red-faced, with Troy's curious eyes following her all the way to her seat. She shot him a small smile when she caught him looking but he didn't return one.

"Bolton, eyes to the front!"

* * *

He leaned against his truck, waiting for them to finish whatever they were doing. He couldn't bear to watch them together when he knew that that was supposed to be him, not Logan.

"I'll see you Saturday." He heard her say as she started making her way towards the truck.

"I'll pick you up. Where something…sexy, for me." Even though Logan was talking to her it was meant for him to hear. He angrily pulled his door open, climbed in and started the car. Gabriella climbed in moments later with a soft smile.

"You now have my undivided attention." She joked, kicking her shoes off and resting her feet on the dashboard.

"Hey, feet off. This is a one of a kind!"

Gabriella grinned and stuck her tongue out at him like a five year old. "What are you, five?" he teased her pulling out of East High's parking lot. She sucked her lips into her mouth and bit down on them and shrugged playfully which made Troy chuckle. Joking around with her was so easy that it came naturally. As they stopped at a red light, he tried not to let his mind wander to the position they had been in just days before, but trying only made it worse. He smiled, remembering the sounds she had made, still fresh in his mind and still loud and clear in his ears.

"I have _so_ much homework." Gabriella moaned ending the silence. For some reason she had taken her feet off the dashboard and placed them on Troy's lap not too far from his overly sensitive external organ.

"Wow, never thought I'd live to see this day," Gabriella's brow rose, "Gabriella Montez complaining about homework! What is this world coming to?"

"Hey!" she nudged him with her foot which he grabbed; skin plus skin contact equals to mind blowing sparks but both of the pretended as though nothing happened.

With one hand on the wheel and the other resting on her feet, caressing them or rubbing them a few times, the duo spent the entire ride laughing and poking fun at each other.

"Oh, Gabriella, you're home…hello."

A woman a little taller than Gabriella, jet black hair just barely brushing her broad shoulders, high cheek bones and eyes identical to Gabriella's and an apron tied around her waist; it had to be Gabriella's mother.

"Ah you must be Troy." She smiled and held out her hand, "I'm Gabriella's mother but you can call me Maria." She had a soft smile on her face that made Troy suddenly ache for _his _own mother but he smiled politely and shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Mo-I mean, Maria." He said politely.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" she suddenly asked, "I'm making lasagna, it's a family recipe." She explained proudly.

"I'd love to. And that sounds delightful." Anything to stay out of his own house, "You have a lovely home I must add."

Maria raised her eyebrows, "so it's not your first time here?"

Troy smiled and shook his head no.

"Well then off you go." She shooed them upstairs, "and leave the door open!"

Troy chuckled at that, "you have an awesome mom." He told Gabriella when they entered her room and he got himself comfortable on her desk chair. Gabriella made a face,

"Where's yours?"

Troy shrugged in a way that showed he wasn't bothered but Gabriella knew him well enough to know that he was. "She died."

"I'm sorry."

Troy placed his hands behind his head leaned back against the chair and rested his feet on her desk, "eh don't be it's not like it's your fault anyway." He tossed her a reassuring smile. "Would you get mad if I fell asleep here?"

"You can sleep on my bed."

Troy raised his eyebrows cockily, "I knew you couldn't resist me." He teased.

"Fine sleep there for all I care."

Troy laughed and collapsed on her bed, "a chance to sleep in your bed? What guy in their right mind would turn that down." As he leaned back against her pillows and closed his eyes he realized how tired he had been. He stretched and a yawn escaped his lips. This left Gabriella with a concerned look; he looked like he hadn't slept well in days, even weeks! The dark circles beneath his eyes were well pronounced so was the tired expression he wore. She cringed softly; as he stretched, his shirt rose revealing what looked like a burn. She knew that by pointing it out he would blow up but she refused to let herself sit back and watch him suffer, so she disappeared in her bathroom and came out with the first aid kit. Feeling the bed dip, Troy opened one eye and watched Gabriella crawl towards him with a box; a first aid kit. He groaned, "Gabriella, please." He said darkly nut the petite brunette ignored him. She hovered over him and began undoing the first button. She expected him to stop her, to close his hands around her wrist and push her away. But he smirked, "I never knew you were this desperate to get me to fuck you." He growled huskily. Normally Gabriella would have taken offense and slapped him but the way he said it made her blush and left her quite turned on.

She shook her head and continued unbuttoning his shirt, aware that his eyes never left her face. She avoided looking at his chest as she discarded the shirt on the bed and reached for the box. Bruises, burns, scars and serious wounds that seemed to e healing slowly were scattered all over his chest and disappearing under the waistband of his boxers. She brushed her fingers lightly over one of the healing ones and felt tears come to her eyes. She looked back at Troy's face and found his eyes were shut tight as if he couldn't bear to see her inspect his body. She passed a hand through his and brushed several chaste kisses against his warm forehead.

"I'm gonna clean you up, then I want you to sleep." She instructed trying to keep her voice strong even though all she wanted to do was hold him and cry. Troy could only nod. The feel of her lips on his forehead and her hands in his hair was driving him crazy. He felt naked, exposed and vulnerable, a feeling he despised but he didn't want her to stop so h shut his eyes tight and threaded his fingers through hers.

"This might sting a bit." She warned. A bit was an understatement. He felt like he was actually on fire as she dabbed at the wounds with disinfectant, "_Fuck_! That hurt!" he hissed through clenched teeth. His fists gripped her sheets tighter and tighter each time the cotton bud came into contact with his skin.

Finally it stopped and Troy released the breath he had been holding.

"G*d." he sighed, glad it was over. He opened his eyes and watched Gabriella run her glossy eyes over his body then come to rest on his tortured eyes. Realizing he had caught her staring, Gabriella turned away and packed the things back in the box. Propping himself on his elbow, wincing as he did so, Troy brushed her hair away from her face and cupped her wet cheek. "Don't ever cry about this, okay. This is my problem I don't want to see you hurt over me." He said quietly. Not wanting to argue, she nodded and accepted the comfort in his arms and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "My father's an asshole and there's no reason to waste tears over what he does to me." He whispered into her hair.

"It just hurts so much seeing you like this and knowing he's getting away with it." She whispered against the skin of his neck. Troy ignored the tingles, "Please don't think about it. Promise me you won't."

"I-I can't promise, but I-I'll t-try." She stuttered. His buried his lips into her wavy hair and inhaled deeply,

"I guess that's good enough."

He closed his eyes when one of her small warm hands traced a light pattern around his belly button. He could almost feel her bite her lip as her hand caressed his worn body in a way that at the same time relaxed him yet turned him on. He moaned softly into her hair and felt his eye lids droop; her caresses were so soft and relaxing, he felt like falling asleep. With her help, he lay back down on the bed, his head nestled in her sweet smelling pillows and closed his eyes, sleep crawling slowly onto him, with Gabriella locked possessively in his arms. He had just about closed his eyes when Maria called them.

"Gabriella! Troy! Dinner!"

Gabriella pulled out of the comfort of his arms and began frantically wiping at her eyes "you go down, I'll meet you there." Troy nodded silently and pressed his lips to her mass of curls then grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. With one last worried look at her, he left and she broke down crying once more.

"Where's Gabriella?" Maria asked sitting at the head of the table.

"She's in the bathroom." Troy lied coolly. "This looks amazing, Ms. Montez." Troy complimented the older woman adding another one of his charming smiles.

"Maria." She corrected and he nodded apologetically, "sit, sit and we can wait for Gabby." A few seconds down the line, Maria spoke up, "you know, when Gabriella was a little girl she used to sing all the time."

Troy smiled humorously, "really."

"Yes, she would stand in front of the T.V. wearing one of my dresses and heels and sing into one of my hair brushes."

Troy laughed as he imagined it in his head.

"Mami" Gabriella's voice rang through the room, "please don't." she begged but Troy chuckled.

"You never told me you sing." He accused.

"One of the many things I plan to keep secret." She said, taking the seat next to him.

"What, there's more?" He asked, placing his hand soothingly in her lap and giving her thigh a soft squeeze.

"You bet." She laced their fingers together.

But instead of inquiring further he just smiled.

She had her secrets and he had his.

**A/N: I would have had this up sooner but the internet was down all over the country and it seems to have taken a whole day to fix it. Oh well, review!**


	18. Secret Hideout

**A/N: You guys are AWESOME, thank you for all your delightful reviews and comments about this story and hopefully those of you that are confused about a few things will get your answers in this chapter and the next few. Enjoy… **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 18 – Welcome to my life**

**_Do you ever feel like breaking down?_**

**_Do you ever feel out of place?_**

**_Like somehow you just don't belong_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_Do you ever want to run away?_**

**_Do you lock yourself in your room?_**

**_With the radio on turned up so loud_**

**_That no one hears you screaming_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_When nothing feels alright_**

**_You don't know what it's like_**

**_To be like me_**

**_To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark_**

**_To be kicked, when you're down_**

**_And feel like you've been pushed around_**

**_To be on the edge of breaking down,_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_WELCOME TO MY LIFE!_**

She needed to take a break. Her leg muscles ached, her tanned body was drenched in sweat and her dark curls hung limply and soaked over her face. Her dry throat burned painfully of thirst and her hammering heart was no help in reducing the pain. She panted loudly, her legs slowing to a stop. She bent over; hands on her knees, and eyes closed and tried to take in as much air as she could.

"Hi." She exhaled loudly and forced herself to stand up straight.

"Hey," she beamed, gladly accepting her face towel and water bottle from him, after a long, much deserved drink, she staggered to the stands and dumped her wasted body on the bench, "I am never doing that again." She vowed, wiping her face vigorously with the soft towel.

"Hey, seven laps, that's pretty impressive." He complimented her, his short blond hair swaying in the harsh breeze.

"Thanks, Ry."

"So" he began, taking a seat close enough for her to notice, "you trying out for Track, 'cause I think they would definitely win all competitions with you on their team."

Gabriella laughed and shook her head, "No. Nah-uh."

"But stuff like this look good on college applications."

"I know, but I'm already part of the schools Decathlon team." Ryan nodded, not knowing what else to say, "Anyway I gotta go. I'm meeting up with Logan in an hour."

Ryan's lips formed an "o" and he nodded, disappointment etched all over his pale face. As she got up, he grabbed her elbow and tugged her into him then pressed his thin lips against the corner of her lips. Both pulled back, shocked at his actions.

"I-I'm so sorry Gabriella," she smiled all of a sudden and raised her thick eyebrows,

"Kelsi was watching?"

Ryan bowed his head and nodded, "yeah."

Gabriella gave him a wide grin, "just tell her how you feel, something tells me she feels the same way." She hugged him tightly, "go get her." She pulled back and watched Ryan run to where the mousey brunette with large round glasses sat on the grass, surrounded by piles of papers and books.

_At least things will go right for them._ She thought wistfully then turned away and left the stadium.

* * *

_She did not know how they ended up lying on the couch with him on top and his hands buried beneath her sweater, or how his shirt was hanging off the T.V. that was still blaring but neither paid attention, both too caught up with the other. His lips were cold and demanding compared to Troy's and his hands did not set her body on fire and send her mind into a frenzied state like Troy either, but she didn't have Troy, she never would so she had to make do with what she had._

_She felt his large hands grip the bottom of her sweater and push it up, revealing her toned stomach and the bottom of her rounded breasts still held securely in her bra._

_"L-Logan." She panted into his mouth using her hands to stop him. She tried to pull back from him but he only held her tighter against his body, his lips still latched to the skin of her neck and attempted to lift her sweater higher up than it already was._

_"Logan!" a feminine voice called from upstairs. He pulled back from his girlfriend and growled a yes. Gabriella ran her fingers through her hair trying to comb the messy curls. She grabbed her phone, checked the time and said she had to go. She gave Logan a quick peck , pulling back before the kiss could turn into more and hastily left._

Loud pop music filled the room causing Gabriella to stir irritably, half asleep. Bronzed legs tangled in the silky peach sheets, dark ebony curls scattered across the matching pillows, Gabriella thrust her hand out from beneath the sheet onto her table and felt about for her phone, which flashed brightly in the pitch dark room. Her small hand clamped around it and her body slumped, relieved at her completed task. Propping herself on her elbow, she pressed "Answer" and brought it up to her to her ear without checking Caller ID.

"Hello."

"I woke you, didn't I?" her heart leapt to her throat at familiar low voice. She blushed, all traces of tiredness gone. "I'm sorry." He whispered softly, provoking sensitive heart strings beneath her ribs.

"Don't be." She persisted then added shyly, "I'm glad you called."

She heard his unique chuckle, "really?" he sounded shocked and pleased at the same time.

"Whatever, don't get too cocky." He laughed and she smiled, "what's up?"

"Do you think you could meet me in front of your house, now?" if it wasn't for the desperation in his voice she would have hesitated, even though she knew she would end up agreeing. After she hung up, she looked down at her attire and frowned before changing into something warmer and presentable. Grabbing the keys to the front door, her cell phone and one of Troy's jackets she snuck quietly out of the house and sure enough she was greeted by the recognizable white truck where she and Troy had first been intimate and hopefully it would not be the last.

Her dark eyes landed on the dark hooded figure leaning against the passenger door, with his hands in his pockets and his worn tennis shoes kicking at the non-existent dirt on the pavement. She shivered uncontrollably and unexpectedly when he raised his head and fixed her with dark eyes that sent her heart hammering against her ribs.

"Hey." She sighed into the cold air. He only smiled and opened his arms to her to which she practically ran into. His arms folded around her and she was engulfed in the powerful scent that was all his; her eyes sealed shut as she snuggled further into embrace. She felt his warm breath blow across her ear, melting her frozen insides and initiating the familiar surge of heat to rush through her.

"You have no idea what you do to me." He mumbled, pulling her closer. She tried to ignore the way the intensity of his words caused pleasurable tremors to run through her, knowing that they meant nothing and that he had probably used it on so many girls before. She stepped out of the protection provided by his arms and ignoring the wave of coldness that slammed into her, she climbed into the passenger seat.

Troy felt rejected when she stepped out of his arms and wordlessly climbed into the car. After "hooking" up with as many girls as he could find, after _trying _picking out all the flaws in her, even after avoiding her and forcing himself not to think about her, his feelings never changed. His heart still picked up speed whenever he saw her, or she was mentioned, his skin would steal heat up whenever it made contact with hers, his eyes never got tired of staring at her and he never got tired of being around her.

He wanted her; _bad_.

He wanted her for himself, he wanted her by his side all through, he wanted her to take away all the pain and make everything better, but to let her do all that he had to open himself to her; he had to become vulnerable.

"Wow…" Gabriella gasped as she stared at the silvery glow of the moon dancing across the surface of the dark lake, little ripples forming in the light breeze on the surface, which stretched out into the darkness. "This is amazing." Her dark eyes twinkled excitedly under the moons soft glow; also casing her ebony waves to shimmer, casting an alluring shadow over her face.

Troy shrugged nonchalantly and continued staring thoughtfully into the dark water, "I know." Gabriella walked up to him twined her arms around his waist and snuggled up to his front, burying her face into the soft material of his dark hoodie, her body pressed flush against his. Troy suppressed a grin and wrapped his own arms securely around her and buried his face into her hair, forgetting all his worries and just focusing on the girl in front of him, the same girl that had the power to make him feel. He shut his eyes tightly and pressed light kisses against her hair, merely registering her soft sighs. "I love your hugs." He whispered sincerely into her hair. He could feel her smiling into his clothes and she tightened her hold on him.

"I love them too." She said then stepped back and out of his arms, leaving him smiling yet unsatisfied. He grabbed her small hand in his and tugged her to him,

"Come on, I wanna show you something." He led her further away from where the truck was parked to where the lake dropped a little into a large pool completely hidden by thick clumps of trees.

"Wow Bolton, I'm impressed." She complimented as she let go of his warm hand and walked closer to the edge of the dark rippling pool. She kicked her shoes off, sat on the edge and dunked her legs into the warm water letting out a breath through her clenched teeth as the warm water seep through her skin to her bones. "Do you come here often?" she queried her eyes fixed on the little bubbles that rose to the surface from her swinging legs.

"Yea." She heard him reply distractedly, "I come here to think."

Gabriella nodded in understanding and a silence followed broken seconds later by a loud "splash" that disturbed the calm atmosphere. She gasped as she was suddenly sprinkled with the cold water.

"Troy!" she squeaked, pulling her feet out from the water and standing up hastily. She watched, waiting angrily for Troy to resurface. When he did, his soft laughter filled the air and Gabriella felt her heart swell at the sweet sound and she laughed, "You're crazy Wildcat." Still laughing, he shook his head and motioned for her to come but she just smiled and shook her head,

"C'mon, Ella." He begged.

"I don't think so." A tremor ran through her as hr dark eyes took in the droplets of water rolling down his muscled shoulders; she had an urge to follow them with her hands, then her tongue…_Stop it Gabriella, you have a boyfriend!_

The water did look inviting, but she wasn't wearing her bathing suit so she folded her arms across her chest and watched as a pout graced Troy's face. "Please…" his lower lip stuck further out as he took slow steps towards where she stood. Unable to resist the temptation any longer, she ripped his jacket off and ordered him to turn away. Her demand was followed seconds later by a loud splash quite similar to the one Troy had made earlier. Gabriella felt content as the water engulfed her entire body, soothing her tense muscles and soaking her entirely. She slowly opened her eyes beneath the surface and almost drank a fistful of water at the sight of the dark blue eyes boring intensely into her own, just centimeters from her. His lips were curled upwards and his eyes were right and playful. A smile made its way to her lips as she reached out and ran her fingers through his chestnut locks. She watched unsurely as his large hand wrapped around her wrist and brought her palm to press against the side of his face. Immediately the air in the still water thickened as Troy brought their pale faces closer. Using his free hand, he knotted his fingers in her wavy locks and pushed her face closer to is; his eyes fixed on her parted lips ignoring the oxygen bubbles that rose to the surface.

It was then (much to Gabriella's humiliation) that her lungs began to burn. Pushing Troy away, she kicked her legs hard. The cold oxygen soothed her scorching lungs and she found herself taking long gasps f it. She waded to the edge of the water and climbed out then placed her head in her hands, ashamed at what she had been about to do. Troy climbed up next to her, his dark bangs falling into his worried face as he tried his best not to look at her body.

"I'm sorry, Ella." He mumbled quietly.

She shocked him by lifting her head and dropping her hands then leaning into his side with her temple pressed against his shoulder. He unsurely wrapped an arm around her sagging shoulders and pulled her close. "It's okay."

"If you're still up for it I wanna show you something else?" he asked hopefully. His lips twisted into a smile at her response as he helped her to her feet, once again very careful not to look at her body, but as she was slipping on her clothes, the practical side of him diminished and his cerulean eyes clung to her upper body, not very well hidden beneath the thin tank she wore. Her back was to him, much to his disappointment and she had already pulled on her pants but just the thought of what was hidden beneath those clothes sent a rush of blood to his lower body.

"Shit." He muttered then jumped back into the now freezing water.


	19. Party Disaster

**A/N: Sorry, I've been crazy busy. Enjoy.**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 19 – Welcome to my life**

**_Do you ever feel like breaking down?_**

**_Do you ever feel out of place?_**

**_Like somehow you just don't belong_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_Do you ever want to run away?_**

**_Do you lock yourself in your room?_**

**_With the radio on turned up so loud_**

**_That no one hears you screaming_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_When nothing feels alright_**

**_You don't know what it's like_**

**_To be like me_**

**_To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark_**

**_To be kicked, when you're down_**

**_And feel like you've been pushed around_**

**_To be on the edge of breaking down,_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_WELCOME TO MY LIFE!_**

"I wanna have sex."

After climbing out of the lake moments later, Troy had driven to East High and taken Gabriella up to his second secret place, even though she fought against it and pointed out that they could get into a lot of trouble for "breaking" into the school but Troy cut her off by saying he had done it a thousand times before and had never once been caught. He led her to the roof top garden, maintained by the garden club, and leaned against the heavy metal door while he watched her fawn over the view and plants. After being up there for a little over thirty minutes Gabriella had gotten over her excitement and was leaning over the rails staring at the hills when Troy walked up behind her, desperate for contact, and caged her against the metal with his hands over hers when the words left her mouth. his body locked in shock as his eyes doubled in size and his mouth fell open,

"What?" he choked. His fingers curled around hers and created a small space between their bodies.

She shut her eyes and exhaled through her dry lips. "I wanna have sex."

"Well…_he _isn't very picky." He tried lamely to make a joke.

She elbowed him in the ribs not hard enough to bruise but hard enough to make him wince, louder than necessary. "Jerk."

"Hey, just saying…but he does prefer the feisty brunettes with brown eyes." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, even as the pain in his ribs, where she had elbowed him, was intensifying.

"Asshole." She muttered to herself just loud enough for him to hear.

"Even feistier."

"I'm being serious here."

"So am I."

"You do know that if I lift my heel high enough it will hit something."

"Jeez, Ella if you want _him _so bad, all you have to do is ask."

Gabriella sighed and turned in his arms. Her fingers slid beneath his shirt and caressed his puckered skin.

"You know that the best way to make a _booboo_ better is by kissing it right?" she rolled her eyes as he continued, "and I think I have a booboo on my lips."

She chuckled at his lame attempt, "there is no way these," she pointed to her lips "are ever touching you."

He leaned closer, "wanna bet."

"Please stop." She mumbled.

"Hey I was just joking."

"I know." She sighed.

Troy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and wet his lips. "Were you serious about the whole you wanting to have sex thing?"

She nodded.

"I-I, um, are you sure?" Again she nodded, "with Briggs?" he asked unsurely. She hesitated then nodded and he felt his chest twist painfully, "but why?" without even waiting for a response, "you're going to regret it. You're not-I bet you're not even ready! How could you be so dumb and stupid to even consider something like—" he was cut off by a painful stinging on his left cheek. His hand flew up to his cheek and his eyes widened, not at the pain, but in shock.

"I-I can't believe you hit me?" he gasped.

"You called me dumb _and_ stupid!" she hissed.

"I didn't mean it" he growled. She cowered back in fear and tried to hide it but not before he saw it. He muttered something under his breath and ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm sorry. It's just…I can't believe you actually thought about giving…giving it to B-Briggs." Gabriella's face softened, "he's just using you, you know."

"No, no he isn't. He actually likes me" She argued "he said so himself."

"Ella, he just wants you to get to me."

"No he doesn't. He's sweet at least he isn't afraid to show his feelings."

"Gabriella, he just wants to have sex with you!"

Gabriella scowled up at him, "you don't know him like I do."

"Really." He said disbelievingly, "When have you two ever had a conversation without him feeling you up?"

He watched her stumble over her words.

"See."

"Please Troy. I'm really not in the mood to argue." She pressed her forehead against his chest. She felt him relax at her touch and wrap his arms around her. "Who I date is my choice." She mumbled into his shirt and felt him nod in defeat. The two stood in silence reveling in each company.

She felt overly exposed.

The strapless black dress clung tightly to her body, accentuating her curves. Her trembling fingers fumbled with the hem of her dress, tugging it over her exposed thighs only to pull it higher to cover her chest.

"He so will not be able to takes his eyes—or his hands—off you tonight!" Sharpay's voice squealed from the bathroom.

"I thought you don't like Logan?" Gabriella raised her tamed eyebrows as she furrowed about in Sharpay's large closet for matching shoes. Sharpay emerged from the bathroom, her golden hair tumbling down her back in perfect curls.

"You know I was talking about Troy." She said in a "duh" tone.

"What about Troy?" Taylor asked walking into the room with a pile of clothes on her arm and her dark hair wrapped in a bubble pink towel, courtesy of Sharpay. "Whoa Gabs, you look hot!" the dark skinned girl complimented.

Gabriella blushed, "thanks Tay. Where's your outfit?"

Taylor walked over to the bed and set the clothes on the bed, "I can't decide," she picked up some clothes, "sexy casual? Or," she picked up other clothes "wild and sexy, or," she picked up the last clothes on the bed, "fuck me now?"

"Ooh, the last one." Sharpay piped up as she picked up said outfit then smirked, "on second thought, take wild and sexy, mama like." She eyed the outfit in her hands.

A few hours later the three were ready and were climbing into Sharpay's convertible.

"This party's gonna be _awesome_!" Sharpay squealed as they stepped out of the car and walked up the path to the large house that was pulsing with loud music. They weaved through grinding teenagers who were probably drunk. Minutes later Taylor and Sharpay had disappeared into the crowd, mingling with other teens, leaving Gabriella standing alone by the snack bar alone with a can of soda in her hand as she watched the drunken teens dancing.

"Hey." A soft voice brought her out of her thoughts and her dark mocha eyes locked with the azure ones of Troy. She beamed up at him.

"Hey Wildcat." She greeted stepping close enough to him to brush against his side. He looked slightly uncomfortable as he looked at his watch-less wrist.

"I can't stay for long, but save me a dance?" he asked coyly. She nodded and took a long drink to calm the escalating heat in her body.

"Why can't you stay for long?" concern dripped off her voice.

He immediately got nervous, "I er, somewhere."

"Like…?" Gabriella pressed.

Troy groaned in exhaustion and passed a hand through his hair, "just leave it."

Gabriella frowned, the whole "just leave it alone" was really starting to bug her. He needed help but if he kept closing himself off from everyone it would be difficult for him to get it. "How long do you have before you have to leave?"

"Just a couple of minutes." He said nonchalantly.

"Enough time for you to get that dance now."

Troy smiled, "once we get out there I won't be able to leave." He said darkly.

"So you're that into dancing?" she looked up at him through her lashes.

"Nope, just you." He flirted.

"Well in that case…" she wrapped her hand around his arm, placed her drink on the table and began leading him to the dance floor.

"Gabriella!" he moaned trying to pull away from her but she had the upper hand. Once in the center of the floor she pulled him close to her and wrapped her arms around his neck leaving a hairs' width of space between them.

The dress had been enough to send him over the edge. When he had walked in he almost had not been able to recognize her, the give-away being her dark waves that fell down her back. He tentatively placed his hands on her small waist and pulled her body close to his. Just watching her body moving in time with the music left him with a twinge of discomfort in his lower regions and he found himself looking away from her swaying hips to other dancing couples; that was until she felt her body brush against his. _Shit_.

His mind was clouded with visions of Gabriella's body grinding up against his, which was probably what would have happened within seconds if he hadn't pulled back and let her arms drop to her sides.

"I gotta go." He said disappointedly. He pressed his lips against her forehead and she shut her eyes, trying to hide her rejection.

"K." he was about to walk away when she grasped his wrist, both ignoring the electric zings from the contact, "Wildcat!" he turned in time to see her open her arms with a mischievous grin spread across her bright olive face; he chuckled and pulled her into his arms letting his chin fall tiredly on to the top of her dark mane of hair and his fingers dig into the soft yet straight tendrils cascading down her exposed back.

"I really gotta go." He persisted, feeling a little bit relieved when she nodded and let him go.

"You feelin' up ma girl?" a dangerous voice growled. Both teens tensed.

"Look, Briggs man, I'm really not in the mood. I gotta go."

Logan ignored him. He stepped close to Troy just barely towering over him, "I don't wanna see you anywhere near _my _girl." As he said that he pulled Gabriella close to him and kissed her hard, wasting no time in plunging his tongue into her mouth. When he pulled back, his lips were stretched into a smug smirk, one that Gabriella could not understand the reason for. "Stay away from her." Logan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her away. All those that had witnessed the confrontation were in complete shock. Troy Bolton had _never _turned down a chance to get into a fight; _never_. No joke! And he had never walked away from Logan willingly without either one of them being physically injured. Troy hardly heard the whispers, the blood in the blood vessels of his ear made sure of that. He inhaled deeply - to rid himself of all the pleasure he knew he would gain from bashing Logan's face and taking Gabriella as his – and left.

"L-Logan…stop!"

He ignored her. His urgent hands brushed against her bra clasp several times before he finally managed to unclasp it. "Logan STOP!" He removed his lips from her neck and glared at her, in a way that sent fearful shivers through her and made her seal her lips shut.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he hissed. Gabriella bit her lip, unsure of what was going on around her. She was pretty certain she had not touched one drop of alcohol, which was why she could not explain why her vision was so blurry or why she suddenly felt tired. She had just reached off the side of the bed and felt around for her shoes, when a hand traveled beneath her bra and cupped one of her breasts. She gasped in shock and pushed him away from her. "I'm not ready!" she insisted. After her talk with Troy in the rooftop garden she had started thinking about what he said and realized he was right: She wanted to wait.

"Come on babe," Logan slurred, reaching out for her once again, his eyes never leaving her chest which made her wrap her arms around her front.

"Not tonight. I need to go find Taylor and Sharpay." He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her into his body and buried his face into her neck, biting harshly at her skin.

"Hmm, forget about them."

"S-stop it." He ignored her and his hand traveled down her stomach. "Stop!"

Her scream was followed by Logan slapping her hard across her cheek. She grasped her stinging cheek in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish underwater. She looked into his eyes, now a dark gray and filled with hate and want.

"Just shut the fuck up, alright!" he grabbed her again and pinned her to the bed ignoring the way her head thrashed from side to side and her legs raised off the bed trying to kick at anything she could reach. Finally, her knee connected with his hard stomach and he buckled over in pain, releasing her from his hold.

She scrambled off the bed and to the door only to realize that he had locked it and had the key and besides yelling would have been pointless with the pulsing music.

Troy…her cell phone!

She grabbed her phone and dialed the familiar number.

_"Hello?"_ he answered after three rings.

"I need you t-to…no-now" She sobbed into the phone.

"_What are you—"_

Her phone was hit out of her hand in the middle of Troy's sentence by Logan.

HSM

Troy frowned in confusion as the line went dead. He pulled his phone away from his ear and glanced warily at the screen as if waiting for it to answer his unspoken question. Gabriella needed his help. But how the hell was he supposed to help her when he was an hour and a half away from Albuquerque, in the middle of a cemetery. He dialed a familiar number and waited impatiently for the person to pick up the phone. He could feel his hands shaking in panic; it wasn't anything big, he promised himself.

"_Yo Hoops dawg!_" a low voice slurred into the phone after several rings.

"You still at the party?" he asked, trying to keep his voice leveled.

"_'Course_."

"Is Ella there?"

There was a silence in which Troy could imagine his friend gazing thoughtfully at nothing, "_ya…think so. She went upstairs with Briggs after you left._"

A flurry of curse words flew out of Troy's mouth, confusing the basketball player, with the incredibly large afro, even more. 

_"Dude…what's up?_"

"I need you to find Ella for me, now."

"_I'm in the middle of something_" Chad protested.

"It's important" he paused contemplating on whether to tell his friend, "I think she's hurt."

"_Whatever. Imma go check."_

"Thanks, I owe you big time."

Chad chuckled, "_ya you do. This one was fine!"_ he sighed, stretching the word "fine" for emphasis.

Troy hung, with a small smile and let out a slightly relieved sigh. He knew Chad would be able to take care of it, at least until he got to Albuquerque. He ran through the darkening cemetery, not before uttering a quick goodbye to a certain headstone that meant a lot to him, towards his truck, all the time hoping that Gabriella was alright.

HSM

In his eyes she was perfection, though he would never admit it, he wished that every second could be like this exact moment. His hands in her soft dark hair holding her face possessively to his, her own dark arms twined tightly around his neck, their lips moving against the others in a way that neither could describe.

He was over the moon, soaring past stars and planets and asteroids, nothing could bring him down from his high, not even the couples lip-locking beside them, or the grinding persons packed closely together in all corners of the large room, or the loud pulsating music bouncing off the walls…that was until he felt his mobile phone vibrating in his back pocket.

He reluctantly pulled away from the girl and noisily fished around for the vibrating device. The look on the girls face turned to one of anger as he ended the conversation and her palm connected with the side of his face "looks like you're still the same big-headed pig" she growled picking herself off his lap and rearranging her appearance. Before she could make it far he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him,

"I know, but right now this isn't about me, "he wrapped a strand of her ebony hair around his finger and brought her body closer to his, "Troy thinks Gabriella's in trouble."

Taylor opened her mouth several times only to close it back after less than a second, "are…is he sure?" Chad nodded, "and he wants us to find her." He mumbled.

Just less than an hour ago, the duo went from almost ripping each other's heads off to almost ripping each other's clothes off and now both were silent and unsure of how to begin their mission. Taylor trembled; she refused to believe that Gabriella was in any kind of trouble and that Troy was probably just being overly paranoid. She felt Chad slide his fingers through her for support and steer her towards a group of the most sober looking people in the entire house.

"You guys seen Gabriella Montez?" he asked without even pausing for a greeting. A girl with jet black hair and dull hawk-like gray eyes watched Chad with her thin lips stretched into a sneer.

"Yea, she went upstairs with Logan a while ago," the girl said, "the lucky bitch."

"Thank you." Taylor muttered hurriedly before dragging Chad towards the stairs. The two carefully avoided the couples doing unmentionables on the wooden stairs and frantically searched several rooms—most filled with teens—before finding a door that was locked. Chad tried the knob several times but the door would not budge. He motioned for Taylor to stand back and he also took several steps back before ramming into the door with all his might leading it to crash onto the floor.

"Gabs!" Taylor shrieked

The brunette lay still on the messy bed with her legs dangling off the bed and a much larger body hovering over hers; Logan's.

She didn't flinch or move at the sound of her friends.

She had obviously been drugged.


	20. Savior

**A/N: I still can't believe it. When it first came out I couldn't believe it. My mom called me during school and told me, I pulled my best friend out (we had no classes that day, thank god) and told her and she told me I was lying and I was like it's not April, and one of my friends who had absolutely no idea what we were talking about came out and was like "December fool" but I still CANNOT believe it; honestly, I kinda don't believe that it was a "mutual" thing.**

**I can't get it out of my head: Zanessa is actually over. Hopefully it won't last long… fingers CROSSED.**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 20 – Welcome to my life**

**_Do you ever feel like breaking down?_**

**_Do you ever feel out of place?_**

**_Like somehow you just don't belong_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_Do you ever want to run away?_**

**_Do you lock yourself in your room?_**

**_With the radio on turned up so loud_**

**_That no one hears you screaming_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_When nothing feels alright_**

**_You don't know what it's like_**

**_To be like me_**

**_To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark_**

**_To be kicked, when you're down_**

**_And feel like you've been pushed around_**

**_To be on the edge of breaking down,_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_WELCOME TO MY LIFE!_**

Fuck traffic…fuck Logan.

"Come on!" Troy growled under his breath as he slammed at his horn several times as if it would make all the cars piled onto the road disappear leaving the road free and open to him. His head had been pounding ever since the phone from Gabriella and he couldn't stop himself from shaking in anger and in fear.

His phone, which he had kept close to him, was clutched tightly in his fist. Every few seconds, he would glance down at the screen hoping that Chad had already gotten to Gabriella. He dialed her number and pressed the device harshly to his ear letting out several inappropriate words when he was once more informed that her phone was switched off. He slammed his fist against the wheel before resting his forehead against the leather of the steering wheel.

There was no way he could get to her in time. He was in another state, hours away from Albuquerque, stuck in the middle of traffic with no way to contact her at all.

He now had no choice but to rely on his best friend.

* * *

Taylor clamped her hand tightly over her mouth to stop the scream she was about to let out. She was frozen in place, unable to think or even breath; but Chad was the utter opposite. After breaking the door down he had not hesitated once and lunged forward at an angry and surprised Logan. He grabbed a fistful of the football captains' hair and hauled him of the paralyzed brunette. Taylor, who had gotten over her shock, rushed forward to her best friends' side,

"Gabby?" she called desperately, trying to get her to regain consciousness "Gabs, come on!" she shook her painfully and that seemed to have done the trick…almost.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered tiredly and opened halfway. Her eyes darted frantically across the room, trying to make sense of what was happening. They bulged out of the sockets when they landed on Chad hovering over Logan punching and kicking any part of the football star he could reach.

She couldn't take it.

She shut her eyes tight and scrunched her face up in an attempt to block out the sounds reverberating off the mauve walls.

"Tay-Taylor?" she whimpered painfully.

"Gabs" the dark skinned girl spoke quietly, "I'm here."

"Where's Troy?"

Taylor forced a smile despite her anxiety and fear, "he's on his way. He'll be here soon." She assured her. Gabriella's body seemed to sag in relief and she leaned her sore body against her friend.

After what felt like hours, the grunts and sounds of fists connecting with bone, Chad appeared by Taylor's side, panting and adorning a mildly bleeding lip. Taylor bit her own lip as she raised her trembling hand to caress the side of Chad's face

"Y-you okay?" she asked quietly, scared to speak louder than a whisper.

Chad nodded and clasped her trembling hand in his, "yea. You?"

Feeling a fresh batch of tears cloud her vision, Taylor bowed her head, "I don't know." Chad forced a smile and wrapped his arms around the crying girl, "everything's fine now. We got here in time. She's gonna be okay." He assured her.

Taylor nodded blindly and leaned into the comfort provided by Chad's arms.

* * *

Gabriella felt like someone had just dumped a ton of bricks on her head all at once as well as jabbed a googol needles into her eyes. She let out an involuntary moan as she tried to sit up in what she realized was a bed.

_"What the hell…?"_

Shock and confusion weaved through her as she whipped her head wildly, trying to make sense of her surroundings. She felt a wave of relief claim her as she realized that she was in her own room and in her own bed.

_"Thank G*d!" _she breathed out in relief. With her head still throbbing, she managed to untangle her legs from the creamy satin sheets and throw them over the edge of her high bed; then she realized she wasn't wearing what she remembered putting on the night before.

_The night before?_

Gabriella felt dizzy and weak all of a sudden; her legs shook dangerously and she felt like she would collapse at any second.

_Dancing with Troy… Kissing Logan… Troy leaving… Making out with Logan on a bed… Logan hitting her… Troy on the phone… Logan forcing her to… _Holy fuck!

As the recollection of the previous nights' highlights hit her with the force of the oceans waves, she felt her body give way and she sunk to the ground as her body erupted in frightening shivers.

"No, please no." she moaned quietly to herself, letting her head fall into her hands. How could she have been so stupid? Why the _hell _did she not listen to Troy? She couldn't breathe, her lungs were on fire; she could feel the torturous flames licking along her trachea, desperately trying to cut off her air supply, as if to punish her for her stupidity.

"Ella?"

_Troy?_

Her head shot up at the familiar voice, so fast that it left her with a continuous throb gnawing at the back of her head.

She barely had time to register anything before she felt a pair of muscular arms wrap around her body and her senses overcome by the familiar scent that spelled "Troy"

"G*d, I was so fucking worried." He husked into her dark hair as he smoothed the wild tendrils back in a soothing manner. Unsure of what to say and overcome with relief, Gabriella snuggled further into his chest, unfazed by the rough material of his shirt. "How are you feeling?" he asked after a long moment of silence. He pushed her back gently to gaze intently at her pale face.

She looked up at him, boring her own mocha spheres in his aquamarine ones, "did he…?" she found herself unable to complete her question, "did L-Logan–"

"No." Troy cut her off. "Chad got there in time."

He felt Gabriella's shoulders sag in relief and she leaned further into his arms.

"Chad?"

"Hmm." He murmured into her hair, taking in the familiar scent. "He's downstairs with Taylor if you wanna er, talk to him."

"Tay is here too?" she asked rhetorically, sitting up a bit on his lap. He let out a soft groan as her knee grazed against his intimate area. If their current situation had been completely different he would have let himself enjoy the feelings the small gesture evoked in him, but now he just felt like a pervert.

"Hmm." Gabriella, who seemed oblivious to the effect her unintentional movement had on Troy, managed to pull herself to a standing position.

"I'm going to go find Tay and Chad." She mumbled quietly passing a hand over her tired face as she tried to push back the sudden nausea that engulfed her sore body. "Are you coming?"

Troy got up from the floor and nodded. "I'll be down soon. You go ahead."

"K." Gabriella sighed before stepping back into his arms once more and inhaling the familiar scent that he carried around with him. Feeling his tense posture she pulled slightly, with her arms still wrapped around his torso to stare into his troubled azure pools. "What's wrong, Wildcat?"

Troy felt his lips stretch slightly at the nickname, "nothing." He breathed, tickling her skin with his hot minty breath, "go."

Gabriella nodded reluctantly, still not believing him. She leaned on her toes and pressed her dry lips to the soft skin of his cheek, "thanks Wildcat." She whispered against his skin before breaking all contact and leaving the room in search of Taylor and Chad.

Troy stood in the same position, unable to move.

The short, innocent, kiss on the cheek had taken him back weeks ago, to the heated kisses he and Gabriella had shared in his truck. Even though he was sure that she had probably forgotten about it all, he himself could not stop thinking about it. He could still clearly remember the way her soft plump lips had felt as they moved sensually against his, matching his lust and vigor; the way her small hands had tugged desperately at his hair as he moved his lips along the heated skin of her neck. He could still remember the pulsating need he felt for her, the way his chest tightened every time she let out a pleasurable moan…

He shook his head angrily and threaded his fingers through his unkempt hair. He, without a doubt, could not think about any of that at the moment, not when she was still recovering. The memories of what happened the night before brought another surge of anger. He could not wait to find Logan and make him pay even more for even trying to hurt Gabriella.

* * *

The first thing that caught Gabriella's eye when she walked into her kitchen was the insanely large afro resting on the counter-top. She froze at the doorway unsure of how to get his attention. Guilt gnawed at her stomach as she remembered the uncountable number of time she had insulted him (though it wasn't like she was the one who started them).

Inhaling deeply, Gabriella stepped farther into the kitchen and cleared her throat slightly. The lump of hair on the table moved and Chad fixed his dark chocolate eyes on her.

"Hey, you're up." He smiled tiredly and Gabriella felt another wave of guilt crash into her; she would need to find a way to repay him in the future, for sure, she decided.

She played with her fingers nervously, "Um, yeah."

"How are you feeling?" Gabriella was stunned, she had never expected anyone like Chad to be this caring, with the exclusion of Troy.

"Er…fine." a sense of awkwardness hung in the air leaving them both shifting uncomfortably in their places. Gabriella took in another large intake of oxygen before breaking the silence. "I know you hate me, "she paused for another breath, "and the last thing you probably wanted to do was to help me, but um, thank you f-for stopping Lo-him."

The nervous Filipina released the breath she had not realized that she had locked in her windpipe, when Chad smiled. "Hey don't seat it, man." He spoke in a light tone, "besides I don't hate, I strongly dislike" Gabriella felt her smile drop, "but you I don't 'strongly dislike'. I guess I was just kind of jealous that you were able to change Troy just after a few weeks of knowing him while I spent years." Gabriella blushed and averted her gaze.

"And besides" Chad continued, "the last thing I want is to see the first person my best friend has cared about in a long time get hurt. I'm sorry I was an ass to you before."

Gabriella locked her eyes with his and matched his genuine smile, "'hey, don't sweat it, man'" she teasingly mimicked him.

Chad laughed.

* * *

The Evan's pool party turned out to be one of a great success.

Their spacious backyard wasn't even half full, despite the fact that over three quarters of the East High student body were present as well as several other students from various different schools across Albuquerque. The two large pools were filled with teens, some lazing on rafts floating on the clear turquoise water, others doing unmentionables behind the extravagant waterfall trickling elegantly down the marvelously carved rocks; others were engaged in a nonsense game of throwing the many multi colored beach balls from different ends of the pool or messing about with the pool noodles and floaters. The loud thumping music could barely be heard over loud squeals of excitement let out by those being picked up completely off the ground and flung into the pool.

Lounging on one of the beach chairs in the corner of the grassy garden, Troy closely watched a certain female standing within the fairly small group standing right by the buffet table, with keen and watchful eyes. He watched her laugh and talk animatedly with her friends, with her small hand wrapped around a can of Mountain Dew and the loose curls from her messy ponytail fall into her glowing face.

He felt his heart swell with want just by watching her perform simple actions. He couldn't decipher or even describe what he felt, neither could he tell whether he liked the feeling or not. But he knew one thing for sure; he would do anything, absolutely anything, for Gabriella Montez.

"Yo Gabi!"

Troy's hand tightened around his glass as he watched one of his teammates wrap his arm around Gabriella and pulled her into him in a way that was far from "just friends". Even from where he sat he could see, and feel, her tense at the contact and try to shrug out of his hold. But it was too tight and her attempts were futile. She relaxed after a bit and even though jealousy coursed through his veins, Troy felt himself smile when she seemed to be almost comfortable with that kind of contact from a human male, other than him and surprisingly Chad, after what had transpired weeks ago.

Troy could safely say he was proud of her…proud of her progress.

Troy jumped as he felt a pair of arms slither down his shoulders and rest on his chest. "Hey Troysie." A sickly-sweet voice purred in his ear.

"I have a problem…"

She ran her hands lightly across his chest, in a way that was meant to be seductive and nibbled painfully on his earlobe.

"…and I need your help."

Troy shut his eyes tight, feeling surprisingly impatient with the girl and found himself pulling away from in a not too gentle manner. The girl did not seem fazed by the action, she merely whipped her hair over her shoulder and pouted in a way that could not be described as "family-friendly".

She perched herself forcefully on his lap and tightly wrapped her arms around his neck resulting in a dangerous scowl to cross Troy's face.

"Fuck off…Cynthia." He snapped, grabbing her wrists in an iron lock and ripping her arms away from his neck.

The girl giggled, "Amelia."

"I don't give a crap." Her smile faltered. "Go bug someone else."

Finally getting the message, Amelia jumped to her feet, shaking slightly as she let the rejection sink in. She watched him, waiting eagerly for him to change his mind. But his attention was fixed on something else, or rather, someone else.

"I don't know what you see in that Montez girl."

Troy ignored her. He ripped his eyes away from the laughing brunette bouncing about excitedly by the pool and looked down at the melting ice cubes in his hardly touched drink. Finally, Amelia left.

It wasn't long after Amelia's departure when Troy felt another presence. He sighed and ran a tired hand down his face, preparing himself for an argument when he felt a pair of familiar hands rest softly on his shoulders that sent sharp sparks of electricity through his chest.

"Tired?" Gabriella asked, rubbing his shoulders lightly, careful to avoid any sore or bruised areas.

"Yea." Troy admitted heavily. He sealed his eyes shut and leaned back into her, letting himself drown in her unique scent. He sighed in content as he felt her small thumb tangle up with the sensitive hairs sprouting along the back of his neck and felt his eyelids flicker reluctantly before opening. Troy found himself staring deeply into her thoughtful mocha irises which were fixed on the invisible air in front of them.

"Are you okay Ella?" he whispered very quietly, scared he would ruin the mountainous bliss he was in by talking too loud. Her eyes dropped down to his, she nodded and smiled, one he could easily tell was forced. He placed his larger hand over her small one and gave it a soft reassuring squeeze resulting in her leaning closer to him, he shuddered inwardly as he felt several strands of hair from her loose ponytail caress his heated cheeks.

"You wanna leave?" she breathed into his ear, tickling the sensitive skin of his lobe. He felt his blood race down to his lower regions as the warm moist air whistled across his skin.

He hesitated, trying to figure out whether or not she really wanted to leave or whether she was only asking for his convenience. Studying her closely, he noticed just how exhausted she actually looked: She had dark rings beneath her tired eyes; her face was unusually pale with many lines which she had almost succeeded in concealing beneath makeup. From afar her hair looked bouncy and full of life, but from where he sat, right beneath her, he noted the lifeless tendrils that curtained her face her thin face. Ignoring her suggestion, he asked "are you still having nightmares about him?"

Gabriella chewed nervously on her lower lip and lowered her eyes; that was enough to confirm his suspicions. He turned in his seat to face her grabbing the hands that had slid off his shoulders at the action and bringing them close to his face, "why didn't you tell me?" Still not raising her eyes to meet his, she spoke "'Cause you have enough on your plate and I didn't want you worrying about this. It isn't important."

Troy stood up at this. He grabbed her hand and dragged her away from all the watchful eyes of their fellow classmates. He led her to the driveway of the Evans mansion, where his truck was parked.

"Gabriella, don't ever say that _this_ isn't important." He stated seriously as he leaned against the door of the drivers' seat with Gabriella in front of him. He raised one hand to cup her cheek with his other hand still holding hers. She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off by speaking. "It is, and _you _know it is." She hung her head not wanting to admit that she, in fact, still disagreed with him. "I want you to call me whenever you have a nightmare, I don't care if you call me at three in the morning" Gabriella's eyes began to sting with unshed tears, "I want you know that you can always talk to me. If there's anything wrong at anytime call me, okay?"

Blinking back her tears, she lifted her head and nodded, too exhausted to argue the matter further. She wanted - but had no clue how to ask for it – Troy to hold her. She wanted to feel his heat and scent engulf her; she wanted to feel the security his arms provided whenever they were around her. She wanted to feel his steady heartbeat pounding softly against her ear whilst his face was buried in her hair, where he would press light kisses. She wanted to bury her face in the same place as always whenever they hugged, in the crook of his neck; her place and no on else's.

"Let's get out of here." He suggested, oblivious to Gabriella's silent and desperate wish.

Quietly, she climbed into his truck.

* * *

**A/N: Zanessa is actually over, still can't believe it!**


	21. Breaking: Part I

**A/N: You guys are awesome, thank you so much for all the reviews! 300…wow. I know it's been really long and I'm really sorry. I've been busy and had another severe case of writers' block for this story. I've had a ton of tests and homework and also mid-year exams as well as the fact that I'm still recovering from my trip to New York for NHSMUN. New York is _AMAZING_! So is Cali! :)  
**

**Enjoy.**

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 21 – Breaking: Part I**

**_Do you ever feel like breaking down?_**

**_Do you ever feel out of place?_**

**_Like somehow you just don't belong_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_Do you ever want to run away?_**

**_Do you lock yourself in your room?_**

**_With the radio on turned up so loud_**

**_That no one hears you screaming_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_When nothing feels alright_**

**_You don't know what it's like_**

**_To be like me_**

**_To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark_**

**_To be kicked, when you're down_**

**_And feel like you've been pushed around_**

**_To be on the edge of breaking down,_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_WELCOME TO MY LIFE!_**

Even though she had barely been conscious when it had happened she could still, quite vividly, recall the rough feel f his hands violating her body and each tine one of these disturbing images would launch themselves into her mind she would cringe, lose focus and wrap her arms around her body. Regardless of the fact that it had happened weeks ago she was still having trouble going back to her old self and old ways. She had gone from being fairly spontaneous and adventurous to mild and paranoid, and this had been noted by _everyone_. Her mother (who had just returned from a business trip in Lagos, only to be sent away a week later to Cairo), was at first frightened and confused at her daughters new and strange behavior, still having not been informed of the horrific incident that had occurred during her absence but she eventually became accustomed to it. She had tried to convince herself that waiting until her daughter was ready to talk was good parenting, but as she watched her daughter retreat further and further into an impenetrable cocoon she began regretting reading those Parenting Books. So she held it in and tried to make every day as normal as possible. She tried hard to take her daughters mind off of whatever was troubling her and it almost always worked.

And then there was Troy. Gabriella knew that he was in way more pain than she could ever imagine, what with the regular abuse he received from his father and his strong hatred towards Logan as well as himself, for not being there when Gabriella had needed him the most. The entire gang had tried, with no avail, to get him to understand that none for it was any of his fault and that it was Logan's. Even Gabriella had added that it was more of her fault than his, for not listening to his warnings about Logan but this only proved to worsen their situation. Because of this he became the same person he had been when he and Gabriella first met: withdrawn, cold and angry. His once bright eyes became empty and emotionless just like him. Now he rarely ever smiled a real smile; his lips would just twitch slightly before returning to a thin, hard line. His guilt and anger were eating him away slowly from the inside and Gabriella watched as the man she loved recoiled into the hard encasing she had tried so hard to break him out of. She was losing him, faster than she had anticipated and she was uncertain of how long it was going to be before he would come back to her.

"Troy?" she murmured one evening as they lay, strewn across the couch in the living room, both staring blankly at the television screen. Gabriella was curled up on the love seat, a thick comforter draped across her small frame whilst Troy was stretched out on the sofa adjacent to her, his muscular arms folded beneath his head, acting as a pillow; he did not seem to hear her at all, too lost in his thoughts. His eyes continued to stare at the screen, void of emotion as Gabriella analyzed his lean figure with a sad smile, from the dark low riding jeans covering his muscled legs to the stark black hoodie concealing the bulging biceps she loved running her fingers across, to his unkempt brown locks falling into his icy eyes. She smiled mischievously as she thought of the number of girls that would kill to be in her position. Of course, unlike her, they would be on the couch with him instead of sitting feet away feeling sorry for him.

"How long are you going to sit there and stare at me?" Troy's amused voice startled her. He had caught her staring, cue blushing. She opened and closed her mouth several times, thinking of an excuse to fend off his remark but it seemed her body was acting against her. No coherent words could form on her tongue; her brain power was reducing due to the intensity of Troy's smug stare. His darkened eyes sparked something foreign that left her speechless.

"I-I wasn't staring!" she exclaimed coyly trying to hide her blush. Troy chuckled and shook his head disbelievingly. "Shut up." She grabbed one of the cushions on the chair and flung it lamely at him only to have him catch it with one hand and send a sly smirk to her. He laughed lightly at her failed attempt and stuffed the cushion beneath his head. "Screw you Bolton."

"You know you want to Montez."

Gabriella feigned an annoyed scowl and pretended to find whatever they were watching way more interesting than him, which, pretty obviously to both of them was untrue. After a little over a minute of staring at the television screen, Gabriella turned back to Troy only to find him watching her intently with clouded eyes. Her lips curled up into a smug smile when their eyes locked, "now who's staring?"

Troy breathed out a small laugh and sat up slightly, leaning his back against the arm of the chair to watch her properly. "Well it's not crime, especially if I'm staring at perfection."

Gabriella flushed, "G*d! You are so cheesy."

"Yeah, but you like my cheesiness." He winked sexily, hiding one of his dazzling cobalt irises from her for that split second. Her plump lips curved upwards into a shy grin, highly accentuating her rosy cheeks. Even though he was right, there was no way she was going to admit that to him out loud. She loved everything about his "cheesy ways" no matter what her condition they always made her laugh. She wasn't sure whether it was because of his words, his cuteness or the way her chest would erupt with warm, fluttering butterflies that tickled her, that forced her to react this way, but she didn't really care.

"…"

Passing a large, bronzed hand over his weary face, Troy spoke "I thought so."

Gabriella missed these moments, when they were both carefree and comfortable with one another, when all their pains and worries just evaporated and were left forgotten. They could be themselves in their own little bubble for a limited time, no one could reach them. She felt a strong surge of courage. She unfolded her slender, tanned legs from beneath her petite body and confidently strode over to him, her dark mocha orbs never once tearing away from his expectant and amused navy eyes which trailed greedily down her figure; from the gray baggy sweatpants to the oversized T-shirt with the Stanford logo emblazoned on the front, to her wavy tendrils tie together in one large and messy braid that fell neatly on her chest. Somehow, Troy found this adorable and hot at the same time. He was slightly confused by this. Sure he had seen tons of girls dressed in a lot less (and even naked) yet none of them looked as hot, beautiful and sexy as Gabriella did as she padded over to him in her mismatched socks (one black one red) with the blanket in hand.

He wanted her so, _so _badly. He could feel his heart racing wildly and his palms moisten as she wordlessly plunked herself onto the couch, cuddling comfortably into his side and spread the blanket evenly across their bodies. Troy found himself reflexively folding her into his arms, mentally marveling at the way their two bodies molded together perfectly. "Comfy?" he found himself asking as he buried his face into her sweet smelling locks.

"Very." she sighed contently, sliding her legs between his jean-clad ones. "You?" She felt Troy shift nervously behind her before he whispered, almost inaudibly,

"More than I should be."

* * *

_It had been a while since he last came here. _

_He had not dreamt of her in weeks or even thought about her._

_ So he was quite surprised when he found himself standing beneath the silvery glow of the moonlight, dressed in nothing but his old pain of jeans and socks he had been wearing when he had fallen asleep. The calm and warm breeze wisped softly around him, raising his unkempt hair out of his face and sending rippling shivers through his bare torso. Here he was at peace. No one could reach him, except her. It was perfect._

_"Troy!"_

Gabriella? _He whirled around wildly at the sound of her voice calling his name. He looked to where he believed the sound came from but it was empty, just an endless stretch of silver blades of grass._

_"Troy!" her calls were fainter as if she was moving farther and farther away from him. As if they had minds of their own, Troy's feet began running, leading him closer and closer to her. _

_"Ella?" his heart was pounding rapidly in his chest as his eyes flitted across the vast landscape. "Gabriella!" _

_A tiny body collided with his, molding itself into his form. Gabriella pressed herself into his side, trembling, her hair wild and her white dress torn. Her small hands clawed at his chest, as if to dissolve her body into his. She whimpered softly into his heated skin. Confused and surprised, Troy draped his muscular arms around her fragile, quaking body, bringing her closer to him. "Ella. What's wrong?"_

_"L-Logan…" she sobbed into his torso. Her body buckled against his and she went limp. Troy tensed, struggling to keep her upright. He tightened his hold around her waist and pushed her head back to catch a glimpse of her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, her face a deathly white; her lips were slightly parted and her breathing was faint._

_She was dying…_

_Feeling another presence Troy raised his head to be met by two pairs of eyes;_

_Logan's and his fathers'. _

Troy awoke with a start, his body shaking and drenched in sweat. He was panting. It wasn't real, none of it was real; it was just a nightmare, he convinced himself. But it felt so real…

A soft moan brought him from his thoughts. Beside him, Gabriella was curled into his side, her legs tangled in the sheets and her dark hair splayed across his naked chest. Her face was peaceful, her plump, pink, lips slightly parted allowing steady breaths to pass through. One of her arms was wrapped around his torso and her face was half buried in his chest.

She was perfect.

Something he wasn't.

Sighing, he combed his fingers through his damp hair and tried to pry her off him without waking her. She whispered something incoherent before stretching out her body slightly causing her oversized shirt to rise. This left Troy in a very precarious situation. He tried to ignore the large amount of skin that was left on show, directly in his line of vision. The last thing he wanted was to think about her in that way just after his dream. He tried to look away but something about the smooth olive skin kept his eyes glued to her. His hands twitched by his side; he was dying to feel its silky smoothness but he didn't want to scare her. Without warning his trembling landed lightly on her flat stomach. Her skin was warm to touch. Electricity and flames shot through his hand as he slowly and lightly caressed her skin, inching higher and higher until his thumb brush the underside of her breast. At the contact, molten lave raced through him, trickling down his body and pooling down in his lower regions. His breathing was strained and he could feel the sweat forming on forehead. This was wrong, so very wrong. He was violating her…he needed to stop. But unfortunately he was too far gone to stop.

His shaking thumb caressed the warm skin of the curve of her breast, once, twice before she sighed. This was enough to snap him out of his reverie and still his movements. With lightening speed his hand shot out from under her shirt and he was off the couch within seconds far from her.

"Shit, damn. Fuck!" he grunted, falling into the armchair and repeatedly combing his fingers through his wild hair. What the fuck was he thinking? First Logan now him! He refused to let him compare himself to Logan. At least he would have stopped if she asked him to. But what if she had woken up? She would have yelled at him, insulted him and probably kick him out and ask to never see him again.

"Dammit!"

He buried his face in his hands, letting his elbows rest on his knees. He was screwed. He couldn't think about her in that way after what she had been through, let alone touch her like that! He raised his head and rested his chin on his palm. Troy watched her sleeping soundly; unaware of what he had been doing just moments prior, of what he had _wanted _to do to her. He got off his butt and squatted next to her on the ground. Exhaling loudly, brushed aside the curls falling into her face.

"I don't deserve you." He whispered to her as though she was awake. He stroked her cheek lovingly and pressed his lips gently against her forehead. "I love you." He confessed against her skin. "G*d. I love you so fucking much." He was not only telling this to her sleeping form but also himself. He pulled and stared at her, his hand still on her face. Then his vision blurred and silent tears trickled down his face.

He was crying.

Troy Bolton was finally breaking.

Muffled, angry cries echoed off the walls of the Montez living room sounding almost thunderous in the black silence that consumed the house. Tortured and raw they consumed the body crouched on the floor in the far corner of the room, leaving it shaking dangerously with every violent sob that took over the figure. His eyes were fused shut as were his lips as he attempted to muffle his cries.

* * *

Something wasn't right.

She awoke with a start; her small body twisted in the blanket. She was still on the couch but she was alone. She wondered if he had left whilst she had been asleep and this created a large swell of emotions to build in her chest; sadness, anger, heartbreak. It was clear to her now that he did not want her in the way she thought, in the way he let on; he was just using her. She scowled at her insecurities as she tried to convince herself hat she was being stupid, that none of that was true, that maybe he had just gone to the bathroom. But as she laid her hand on the side he had been laying on she was meet by coldness. He had been gone for a while. It was clear to her then that he had indeed gone home, left her.

Then she heard the crying.

At first she thought it was her mind playing tricks on her and that it would go away soon. But it didn't. It just continued, muffled and raw and it was close. Dazed and confused, she sat up and detangled her legs from the sheet. "What the…" she trailed off as her dark eyes frantically scanned the dark room in search of the person. A tight knot formed in her chest.

In the far corner slumped against the wall was Troy.

* * *

**A/N: REVIEW!**


	22. Breaking: Part II

**A/N: I'm am sooooooooooooo sorry for the wait. This wasn't a very easy chapter to write, being The Climax and all. I kept going over and changing and even now I'm not satisfied. It's hard to write and I know this should be the longest chapter with the most emotion, but I'm not really feeling it, hope you guys do though!**

**You're reviews always make me smile and I really love reading them all. :)**

**Enjoy! **

**Summary: Troy-selfish, emotionless, cold, mysterious, arrogant, dark, every girls dream, gorgeous, bad boy, and King of EHS. Gabriella-shy, timid, new, quiet, smart, innocent, small, beautiful, secretive, caring, and sweet. When these two very different people meet, it could only lead to one thing. HATE, or perhaps LOVE (Unspoken attraction).**

**Chapter 22 –Breaking: Part II**

**_Do you ever feel like breaking down?_**

**_Do you ever feel out of place?_**

**_Like somehow you just don't belong_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_Do you ever want to run away?_**

**_Do you lock yourself in your room?_**

**_With the radio on turned up so loud_**

**_That no one hears you screaming_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_When nothing feels alright_**

**_You don't know what it's like_**

**_To be like me_**

**_To be hurt, to feel lost to be left out in the dark_**

**_To be kicked, when you're down_**

**_And feel like you've been pushed around_**

**_To be on the edge of breaking down,_**

**_And no one understands you_**

**_No you don't know what it's like_**

**_WELCOME TO MY LIFE!_**

There were many instances during her life when Gabriella had felt an overwhelming amount of fear. For instance, when she was eight she had nearly been hit by an out of control car right in front of her house; in first grade she had landed the leading role in her school's play and had completely frozen up on stage; and just a few days ago with Logan. But never before had she felt it as strong as this. As she watched the crumpled figure in the far corner emit soft, strangled cries of despair she felt her heart twist rather violently in her chest. She felt her own salty tears spring to her eyes and her body sag painfully onto the couch. He didn't deserve this life, in fact, no one did! Pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind, she trampled, in her mismatching socks to where Troy sat.

"Shh…" she cooed softly as she tried her best to fold his shaking body into her arms. At first he stiffened and pulled away slightly, still keeping his head bowed before he sagged against her tiny frame and buried his wet face in her shirt. She squeezed her eyes shut and rested her cheek on top of the silkiness of his chestnut locks, her tiny fingers stroking a rhythmic pattern on his clothed back. After what felt like hours, Troy's crying finally ceased and he pulled away from Gabriella. Still not meeting her worried orbs he lay down on the ground with his head on her lap, eyes trained on the ceiling and one of her hands enclosed with his.

"I'm a fuck job." He breathed mainly to himself than to Gabriella. "I can't fucking do anything right! My dad hates me. No one cares…" he trailed off still staring at the ceiling with all of his emotions displayed on his face; anger, hatred, defeat, pain.

Gabriella frowned and rested her free hand on his warm face. "You're not a 'fuck job'!" She whispered feeling a strong surge of anger well up in her, "Chad cares. I care."

Troy's watery eyes met with her and Gabriella was alarmed by the strong emotions swirling in their depths before he frowned and it all vanished. In a flash he had sat up and was edging away from her. "You shouldn't!"

Her face twisted in anger at his words and she sat up straighter to face his lifeless figure, "and why is that?"

"Look at me Gabriella! I'm not someone worth caring about. I have too much going on; stuff _you _wouldn't even dream about let alone be able to deal with!"

"I've been dealing with your issues pretty well for the past few months!" she was now yelling at him, furious that he could think such ridiculous thoughts. She wanted to hit him or throw anything she could reach at him. He groaned and dug his fingers in his hair. "_That's _not long." He spat.

"Why are you arguing with me about this?" she asked, edging closer to him, "nothing you say or do is going to make me stop caring, just know that." She reached him and cupped his cheek affectionately. His eyes locked with hers but he didn't mirror her encouraging smile instead he bit his lip harshly.

"I don't want you to."

"Why?"

He looked away. It was a while before he finally responded. "I don't want you to end up like her." He whispered sounding frightened as he leaned into her touch.

Gabriella's eyebrow furrowed in confusion; somewhere, deep down, she knew who he was talking about but she wasn't certain, "Who?"

"My mom…"

She watched the emotions dance in his wet eyes as she tried to figure out a proper response but nothing came to mind. Everything inside her brain was muddled up. She couldn't think instead she dropped her hand from Troy's face and pushed her hair behind her ear before curling up into his side and rested her head on his chest, listening softly to his erratic heart beating beneath his ribs. Biting her lips she grabbed the hand of the arm he wrapped around her and twined their fingers together.

"What happened?" she breathed, almost afraid to ask.

She felt Troy sigh and tighten his hold on her. "She couldn't handle it. She got pregnant with me in high school. After her parents found out they forced her to get an abortions but she refused. My grandparents were this perfect, rich family and having their teenage daughter pregnant would ruin their perfect family reputation. Eventually my mom ran away to Sante Fe, where she had me and met my 'dad'." Troy cringed at the word as he buried his face in her luscious curls, inhaling deeply her unique scent.

"At first everything was perfect, everyone was happy. We were like the perfect family." Troy hesitated. He trailed a long finger down her face to her lips. "Then when I turned three my dad lost his job. He started drinking, smoking and all that kind of crap. He became violent, was always angry and drunk and spent most of the day at bars. My mom tried to hide his new side from me but I knew what was going on. Then he started hitting me for no reason. But she was always there to try and stop him. They'd spend all night arguing and yelling at each other. I remember thinking it was all y fault. Then one night, she left." He choked on his words as he bit back a sob. Gabriella's hands tightened on his shirt and one slithered under the material to stroke his back in reassurance and what she hoped was comforting. "I'm sorry Ella." He breathed, pressing his lips to her hair. Despite the saltiness forming in her eyes, Gabriella shook her head firmly.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault."

Troy shook his head disbelievingly, "and you know what hurt most? She promised she'd come back and I could go away with her and we could forget all about him. But she didn't. Sh- she never came back. And I was left for months, wondering what I did to upset her and my dad. After she left, he became more violent and emotional. One minute he'd be beating the crap out of me then next he'd be crying about how he missed her." Troy paused as he played with the midnight tresses falling onto his chest from Gabriella's hair. "Then months later, we get a call from the police. She overdosed Ella. And I know it wasn't an accident! She promised me!"

Gabriella pressed chaste kisses to his clammy forehead to calm him down and ran shaky fingers through his damp hair. "Shh," she cooed staring into his wet pools, "I'm sure she had a reason for killing herself."

"Yeah; she didn't want me anymore!" he insisted covering her small hands with his and bringing them to his face, letting his eyelids flutter at the cool contact.

"Don't say that. You know she wanted you. She sacrificed _everything _just for _you_."

"Really? Then why did she leave me? Answer that."

Gabriella sighed and cupped his face, "you know I can't."

"You know what?" he hissed, pushing her hands away. His face became hard as steel and his eyes turned ice cold. "Fuck her."

"Don't say that Troy. You don't mean it."

"I do!" he snapped stubbornly. "If I had never been born then she never would have met that bastard and she'd still be here. You know. Married possibly and happy and…."

"You don't know that for sure! Don't you think it's possible that she'd rather have you than not? You're just heartbroken and disappointed." She justified, watching as the steel wall cracked just a little. "You love her and she loved you, in fact I'm sure she still does. I mean maybe she needed to find a way to be able to sustain both of you and she didn't want you to see her struggle for _you_ and you alone." She splayed her fingers on the side of his face, "she died for you. The least you can do for her is live."

Troy's eyes lowered in shame at her words. He couldn't help but pick out the truth in them. His mother had sacrificed _everything _for him. She had endured years of abuse just so he could live a comfortable life. She had run away from a perfect, happy life where she had everything and anything she wanted just so he could live and what was he doing to repay her? Sleeping around and mucking up his life without a care for anyone around him. "G-d I'm such an asshole." He whispered harshly.

"But you are my asshole." Gabriella said to lighten the mood, predicting perfectly his next words.

"That sounds wrong Montez." His chapped lips twitched upwards as he spoke, just the reaction she was hoping for, "and cheesy."

She smirked, opting for a smug attitude, "I try." Then her expression became serious, "just don't blame yourself for what you can't control. Your mom loved you and she still does."

Troy looked at her and Gabriella felt sizzling heat take over her body at the intense stare. It was almost like the usual stares he gave her; almost. There was something different about this one, something she couldn't quite name but it made her feel naked, like he could really see her. she tried looking away more than once, too unnerved by the darkened blue hues but it was a though some invisible force denied her of the ability to look away. She became unaware of everything else around her, her sole focus being on the oceanic blue pools and the pair of pale pink cushions that crept slowly towards her.

"Troy…" she warned over the simultaneous pounding of both their hearts reverberating off the brick walls. Troy shook his head, a slight gesture that almost went unnoticed by Gabriella. "Don't." he exhaled, his hand slowly and tentatively reaching up to cup the back of her head and tangle in her luscious curls, "Don't ruin it."

She barely had time to register before her lips were pressed flush against his sending a powerful, electric thrill to run down her spine and chill her bones. Memories of their heated kisses in his truck filed her mind. But this was different. Troy's lips moved slowly, almost hesitant, against hers like he was expecting her to push him away but she leaned closer to him, minimizing the space between their bodies and placing her small hands on his broad shoulders. She wanted more, more than he was giving her and not just physically. She didn't want to share, couldn't even bear the thought of it. She wanted commitment. She wanted them to be…something.

"Troy, I-" the words barely left her mouth before he attacked her lips savagely, like an animal that had been denied food for so long. She gasped at his viscous onslaught, caught off guard yet wanting to meet his pace. One of his hands had curled around her waist, whilst the other stayed tangled in her hair, keeping her head in place as he roughly and possessively took over her mouth; owning, branding, controlling.

He pulled away, but only slightly, leaving hardly any space between their lips for air to pass, and whispered so low yet she heard it loud and clear as though someone was shouting it in her head, "I love you."

**A/N: And I am leaving you guys there :P Mean? I know. I know most of you are like "Finally!" but hey, I have my reasons for prolonging this. A lot of the stories I've read the minute they get together the story stops being interesting. I don't know why everything just becomes boring and stuff; I'm not saying all are like that but I've read a lot that are like that. I planned it to be later but because of you guys and your awesomeness, I pushed it forward. Sorry it was a little rushed, but I hope you like it and I'll try and update sooner. In the mean time, REVIEW!**

**Criticize, hate…I don't mind.**


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